Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Mickey were tasked with picking up where Whiteside left off in the season opener. Those were big shoes to fill(metaphorically speaking of course), but the two big men did a pretty good job of filling in.
Mickey started the game but Kelly Olynyk seen majority of the spilt minutes. Individually, it was Olynyk who stood out on paper but Mickey gave a good performance sparing Olynyk when needed. In the end, the two centers combined for a total of 12 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assist, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Not to shabby in the absence of the dominant Whiteside.
The back court play of Miami was very impressive. Josh Richardson lead all guards with 21 points. Right behind him was “The Dragon” Goran Dragic with 19 points, adding 6 assists. Wayne Ellington was a key factor coming off the bench to score 20 points for Miami. The effort included Ellington tying Miami Heats' club record of most three pointers in a quarter(six in the second quarter). “it feels like whatever you put up there, its going to go in”. Ellington said post game.
I myself, was real impressed with the Heat's shot selection throughout the game. The Heat has been consistent at scoring high in games but at the expense of poor shot selection. The team played solid defense from start to finished like it was a game to decide a key victory for a playoff spot and not just the third game of the season. That is what I felt most excited about in this game, aside of just a win.
Hopefully, the Heat can continue their home winning streak as the San Antonio Spurs(3-0) comes to Miami Wednesday night in a primetime match-up on ESPN. The Spurs are never a given and the Heat will need to play collectively as they did against the Hawks to keep up with Greg Popovich's fundamentally sound San Antonio Spurs.
Spurs @ Heat
Wednesday October 25, 2017 8:00 p.m.
American Airlines Arena
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