With Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro returning against Minnesota, head coach Erik Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler express their excitement at the expected time.
The Miami Heat will face a tough test on Monday against the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed Minnesota Timberwolves, but the team will get a lot of help. Stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, both long-term absentees, will be available and play for the Heat. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to the media before the game, answering what the workload will be and his overall excitement at having the two players back. He said the game will determine minutes for the Stars and he is “excited to have them back.”“The match will decide. After the game they’ll let us know, but we’re happy to have them back and you know we’ll move forward with this group, but in this league everything is unpredictable,” Spoelstra said. “You know, we didn’t expect to have any injuries. You just have to deal with what comes your way. But today was a very uplifting day where they had a shoot.Herro’s return for the Heat in particular is huge, as they have lacked the ability to score and create shots that he brings to the table. Before suffering a Grade 2 right ankle sprain in early November, he was the team’s leading scorer at about 23 points per game. Spoelstra said before Monday’s game that having him on the field helps the offense in countless ways. “We are happy with his abilities. You know, he does so many things to help your offense. His game has really grown and we just want to have all our weapons available,” Spoelstra said. “We’re fifth in the East now, you know. We like the way we played, but at the end of the day we’re not where we want to be yet, so we want to get our guys in and put some things in place, hopefully put together a few good weeks and months and prepare ourselves. .”Adebayo’s return is also a big win for the Heat since he has been dealing with a hip injury since the start of the season. However, the Miami big man has missed the last seven games since suffering a blow to the same hip on November 30 against the Indiana Pacers. Adebayo possesses elite defense when defending any position and has shown big improvements offensively. He was arguably the Heat’s best player, averaging a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds per game. On Monday on the field against Minnesota he will face a tough test against players of the caliber of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Spoelstra agreed that the Timberwolves are No. 1 in the Western Conference for a reason, as their record is 19-5. He told ClutchPoints that they are the best in many categories, including stars like Anthony Edwards. They are formidable, that’s for sure. They have the best point differential in the league. They have the best defense. “Their defense is, in my opinion, the best defense they’ve done in recent years,” Spoelstra said. “They make it really difficult. You have to work on your offense to get the shots you want, not the ones they expect from you. And then you have two people who are clear on the distribution of roles and who can score a lot of points quickly.
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