Bam Adebayo is doubtful for tonight so Kel’el Ware has a mission. He needs to “play a significant part” in the outcome of tonight’s game. Bam Adebayo has long been known as “the quarterback of the Heat defense.” He needs an assistant, a sidekick, a “Commander Ryker” to Adebayo’s “Picard.”
Adebayo injury status
Adebayo is doubtful for tonight with calf soreness. Thankfully, there is a replacement for him (Kel’el Ware.) Ware is not at all ready to replace Adebayo but he can contribute with rebounding and rim protection. Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson are available to play for tonight. So they will provide rebounding and defense.
Rebounding has to come from all players
Without Adebayo, the Heat players have to all contribute to rebounding. From an earlier instance where Adebayo had a toe injury, Coach Spoelstra told the Miami Herald the following:
“We pride ourselves on our rebounding. It just has to improve,” Spoelstra said. “The league is also changing. We have to adjust to that. More teams are crashing four guys and crashing their perimeter players. A lot of times cutting off-ball, now that cutter becomes the most dangerous offensive rebounder. We just need to make that adjustment and have more awareness with it. We’re fully capable of that.”
Nikola Jovic can bounce back into the rotation after being off with injury with a heavy rebounding stat. Jovic has battled injury and mental toughness issues all season. It is difficult to remember that Jovic is 6’10” and 240 lbs. He doesn’t rebound according to his size.
Hornets will come after Heat on the glass
The Hornets are ranked #2 in the Association behind Houston in total rebounding rate. The Hornets are 10th in the Eastern Conference entering today. They not only can gain ground against Philadelphia to host them in the first round of the play-in tournament, they could “play spoiler” to Miami’s desire to earn the top six seeds. The Heat pulled ahead of them in early March with a big victory to win the tiebreaker against Charlotte.
Moussa Diabate is the Hornets team leader in rebounding at 8.7 per game. To compare the two teams, the Hornets have five players that average over five rebounds per game. The Heat only have two players (Jaquez and Larsson.) The Hornets have three players that average over four rebounds per game while the Heat only have one player (Herro.)
Heat have tough week ahead
The Heat play at Charlotte tonight and then host the Lakers on Thursday at the Kaseya Center. The Lakers are in a battle with Houston for the third seed and beat them on Monday. They will play Houston on Wednesday night in a two-game set before heading to Miami. Then, the Heat will travel to Houston to play the Rockets. The younger players like Jaime Jaquez, Pelle Larsson, Kel’el Ware and Niko Jovic have a chance to solidify their roles on the team for upcoming seasons with their productivity in the next week.
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