Miami Heat: Grading every player at the midway point of the season
By Simon Smith
Justise Winslow
Winslow’s second year in the league went from bad to worse and eventually ended prematurely. Even when healthy earlier in the season, Winslow’s struggles shooting from the field were a real concern. These early woes were only compounded for himself and the Heat when he was sidelined for 16 games with a wrist injury.
When he returned, Winslow played a further nine games, taking his season tally to 18. It was unfortunately at this stage that he sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. With the mass departure of experience this offseason, this season was seen as great opportunity for the Heat to develop Winslow into a key component of the team for the future.
In his 18 appearances, Winslow averaged 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals. He was averaging a team-high 34.9 minutes per game. The most glaring problem was his perimeter shooting. He converted just 35.4 percent of his field goals and 20 percent of his three-point attempts. Considering these have regressed quite noticeably from his rookie season, this was cause for much frustration for himself and the team when healthy.
One area though that Winslow continued to flourish in was on the defensive end. When Winslow on the court this season, the Heat gave up on average 101.5 points per 100 possessions. When he was off the floor, this jumped to 105.4. Further Winslow had the best plus/minus rate on the team up until he was lost for the season. Overall up until December 30, Winslow was a -6 when on the floor. During this period, the Heat were -106 when he was off the court.
Check below for the highlights of Winslow’s most impressive performance this season. In this game, Winslow posted 23 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three assists in a home victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. Also, Winslow was an impressive +22 when on the floor.