The Miami Heat are going through it right now. They are a roster that has been decimated all season by injury and that’s even before this latest rash of Health And Safety Protocols took over the league.
Losing Bam Adebayo several weeks ago, they had come to depend on P.J. Tucker and Dewayne Dedmon as their core big men in his absence. With P.J. Tucker going down a few games ago with a leg injury, that left Dewayne Dedmon as the lone rotational big to pick up the slack.
Then, he went down just a few minutes into their last contest. The Miami Heat would now need to go deeper into their rotation.
That meant calling on the young big man, Omer Yurtseven, to not only give the Miami Heat some key minutes as their lone true big man but also as a starter. He not only fulfilled the essential needs of the Heat on Sunday in a win over Orlando, but he came up huge.
The Miami Heat needed their third big to step up on Sunday and he did. Omer Yurtseven had himself a game, filling in when and where they most needed it.
Finishing with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and two assists in 33 minutes of action, he was a much-needed presence on both ends of the floor. He put himself in a position to make the looks easy for his teammates, for which he did a good job of finishing once he received the passes.
He still has work to do on the defensive end but is showing great improvement in his ability to be a great barrier between offensive players and the rim. Needless to say, The Big Yurt was marvelous on Sunday for his coach and team.
That goes double because it came at a time when they absolutely needed it the most. The Miami Heat won this one over their in-state rivals, 93-83, in a low-scoring affair.
They’ll get a day off before welcoming in another familiar foe, the Washington Wizards, on Tuesday for what should be an interesting contest. Playing without Kyle Lowry, being out in the NBA protocols, they’ll continue to rely on Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent, and Tyler Herro to make things happen.
Hopefully, they’ll continue to be able to sustain without their quarterback. Hopefully, Yurtseven can keep up his strong play too to continue to help offset their depth issues with their big men.