The Miami Heat are in the fight to win an NBA championship despite the long odds they face, but given that only six No. 8 seeds have advanced past the first round and only two have reached the Finals, how they fare on the ride is nearly as important as the chase.
One major bonus to reaching the playoffs is getting the team’s rookies playoff experience, so it’s not necessarily terrible that neither Kel’el Ware or Pelle Larsson had memorable Game 1 efforts against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ll now get to show they can bounce back from adversity.
Ware started at center like he has for most of the stretch run, but played just 19:35. Although he blocked two shots, he wound up with just two points and three rebounds, his lowest output in both those categories in over a month. Ware’s poor performance came on his 21st birthday.
“This is the life of a young player,” Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of his rookie center following Game 1. “You’re being fed through a fire hose, but he’s important to what we do. He’ll get to work. That’s the thing I really respect about Kel’el, and the areas he’s gotten a lot better, we’re going to need in this series.”
The “fire hose” reference is an interesting way to say Miami’s most recent first-round pick is being asked to absorb a lot at an early point in his development. It doesn’t help that he’s going up against a pair of Cavs' big men, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, who have been All-Stars.
Although Ware has had a game where he finished with no boards (Jan. 2), he finished with 25 points in just over 20 minutes in that loss to the Pacers. Ware went scoreless only once (Feb. 5) since becoming a fixture in Spoelstra’s rotation late in December, but had 13 rebounds in that win over the 76ers. He averaged 9.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Play-in tournament.
“He has to go through it. He’s young, but the thing about it is, we know he’ll bounce back,” Heat captain and frontcourt partner Bam Adebayo said. “He’s one of those rookies where he retains a lot of information very well, and we need him… he’s already got that first game out of the way, and now we’re going to this game Wednesday with a different mindset.”
Adebayo scored six points and grabbed one rebound in his 2018 playoff debut in Philadelphia and went scoreless in Game 2, so it is indeed a process. Seeing how Ware responds will be a major point of emphasis. He played in just one of three regular-season games against the Cavs (Jan. 29), starting and finishing with five points, four rebounds and three assists in 29:16. The Heat lost that game 126-106.
Miami’s other rookie, Larsson, was invaluable at times down the stretch, but didn’t get into Game 1 until the final 1:23. It remains to be seen if Spoelstra calls his number earlier on Wednesday since his length and perimeter defense could be an asset given the Cavaliers’ strengths and shooting prowess.
Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com
