Andrew Wiggins blew by his defender, took off from the low block and finished with a strong, right-handed dunk over the Houston Rockets defense during Friday night’s game. The play was met with cheers from fans at Kaseya Center and immediately clipped and shared by the Miami Heat social media team.
That was for two of his 20 points in an impressive second quarter that displayed what Wiggins provides for this Heat team in dire need of easy scoring.
“You can see the possibilities,” Spoelstra said. “He can do a lot of things that our team needs. The plays in between, he can create his own shot, he can get downhill, he spaces the floor. Defensively, he fits right into our system.
“If we just can get him on the floor, there’s going to be good things that happen.”
The Heat might have something in Wiggins.
After missing the last two games with a left leg contusion, Wiggins finished with a team-high 30 points on 10 of 13 shooting in his return to the starting lineup. It was the most points that he’s scored since joining the Heat.
But Friday was just Wiggins’ 12th game with the Heat since he arrived as part of the Jimmy Butler deal on Feb. 6. He has missed stretches of one, four and two games because of injuries or illness for a total of eight games missed. On Friday, he was limited to 29 minutes as the Heat managed his workload in his return.
“It felt good to be back out there,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins was electric in the second quarter. He made all six of his field goal attempts, including 2 of 2 on 3s and going 6 of 7 from the foul line.
There were easy shots from the corner, step-back 3s, a pair of dunks and a physical, driving layup against ace Rockets defender Dillon Brooks that highlights what Wiggins, the top pick in the 2014 draft, is capable of.
The Heat lost their 10th game in a row as they sink further in the league standings, but Wiggins provided a more important takeaway. Since the Butler trade, the Heat have lacked a wing who can create his own shot. Bam Adebayo isn’t a natural scorer and Tyler Herro thrives mostly from beyond the arc. Wiggins isn’t Butler, but he’s as close as it gets on Miami’s roster.
Though Wiggins has not been the most consistently assertive score throughout his career, the Heat might want to make an effort to get the ball in his hands more going forward.