Coming into Thursday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, it felt like Miami was just spinning a wheel to decide how much Kel’el Ware would play. In three of the Heat's previous six outings, Ware had played less than 20 minutes, including the previous two.
So whether the Wheel of Fortune just happened to land on Ware ahead of Thursday or Erik Spoelstra had an emphiany, the end result was one of Ware’s best games of the season as Miami beat Brooklyn 106-95 to snap a five-game losing streak.
Kel’el Ware scores 22 points in win over the Nets
After playing less than 20 minutes in the last two games, Ware got the start against Brooklyn, and it pushed Bam Adebayo to the four spot. Paired together, it seemingly freed Ware up, and his impact was immediate. In the first quarter alone, when Ware and Adebayo were on the court together, Ware was 4-5 shooting for eight points. Adebayo was struggling to score but was freed up to be a rebound machine and had seven in the first quarter.
Once separated as rotations took hold, some of Ware’s warts started to show. He had zero points in the 2nd quarter and was -5 on the court in 3:49 of action.
Back together in the 3rd, Ware was two of three shooting with three rebounds and a block.
And perhaps in rhythm from the early confidence, Ware was able to hold the fort down in the 4th quarter while Adebayo had foul trouble and had ten points in the 4th, including a massive three-point shot with about five minutes to play that helped create the gap for good.
Spoelstra loves me, he loves me not
Beating the Nets isn’t a sign that Miami has magically fixed all of the issues that plagued them during their five-game winning streak. The Heat were still just 9-28 from three and had just 23 assists on the night en route to another sub-110 point night on offense.
But for a team that is desperate for any kind of offensive spark right now, Ware feels like a decent place to start. As Miami gets ready to take on Boston tonight, who should serve as a far better litmus test as to where the Heat stand right now, the real mystery is what Ware’s role be.
Because, as has been the case all season, Erik Spoelstra will love Ware one night, and then he will love him not the next.