The big-muscle recreation is neither the sport of selection for the Miami Heat nor essentially a place of power.
But when required, there’s all the time Dewayne Dedmon.
“I work out a lot, so that’s how you get these guns,” Dedmon stated with a smile as he flexed his biceps. “Welcome to the show.”
Posturing apart, Dedmon is coming off a strong effort in Sunday evening’s 106-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at the beginning of this four-game journey, when he closed with 13 factors on 6-of-7 taking pictures and 6 rebounds in his 14:18.
“Dewayne with that second unit was really good,” coach Erik Spoelstra stated, with the Heat subsequent turning their consideration to Wednesday and Friday evening video games towards the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. “He was defending the basket in our zone.
“He’s our biggest guy and he played with force and physicality, and was able to get a lot of stuff at the basket that were relief baskets for us.”
With beginning heart Bam Adebayo recently dominant in a big-minutes position, it has allowed Dedmon to go all out throughout his stints.
“I’m understanding what my minutes situation is,” Dedmon, 33, stated, “and simply attempting to be as efficient as potential in these moments.
“That second unit is always trying to bring energy, bring effort, get our team back in the game or keep the momentum going.”
And if he will get the chance to place these “guns” to make use of, all the higher.
“Just trying to bring that physical edge,” stated the 6-foot-11, 250-pound 10-year veteran. “Every team needs it. So trying to be effective and have fun.”
Zoned out
While there clearly has been a level of the league catching as much as the Heat’s record-setting utilization of zone protection, the method continues to have its moments.
Another of these moments got here throughout Sunday’s victory over the Hawks, when Atlanta shot simply 31 p.c from the sector and three of 19 on 3-pointers throughout their 38-point second half.
“They were in that zone pretty much the whole game,” stated Hawks guard Trae Young, who closed 4 of 16 from the sector, 1 of 8 on 3-pointers. “They have been being aggressive, making us use a while within the backcourt. So it was sort of a brief clock on the opposite finish, which is sensible on their finish.
“They just made us shoot threes. We haven’t been shooting good all year from the three-point line. That’s what they made us do. So you gotta give credit to them and tip your hat for their game.”
When the Heat weren’t in zone, it typically was Heat ahead Caleb Martin pestering Young.
“I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half attacking, just attack the gaps, make them play to you, you know, play from inside out,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan stated of the Heat zone. “And the second half, it became a stop sign. And we’re trying to run maybe zone offense or we just [weren’t] aggressive enough. You got to be aggressive against that.”
20-20 visitions
Shooting 13 of 20 in Sunday’s 32-point effort in Atlanta after taking pictures 15 of twenty-two in Friday evening’s 38-point efficiency within the victory over the visiting Washington Wizards, Adebayo has consecutive 20-shot outings for the primary time in his six-season profession.
“His confidence is growing,” Spoelstra stated after Sunday’s victory. “The talent set is one thing that he’s labored extraordinarily diligently on for a very long time and his versatility was on show offensively all throughout the board, whether or not he was setting screens and attending to the rim for lobs, whether or not he was bringing the ball up and initiating or attacking early within the offense, his dribble handoffs have been actually good.
“And then we played through him in the post when we needed to try to control the game a little bit.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com