With the Golden State Warriors beating the Miami Heat on Thursday on the second night of a back-to-back, 120-100, the latter is still looking to find its groove with all its new faces such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, and others. As the Heat now fall to 3-6 on the season after the loss to the Warriors, one newcomer who has been struggling recently is Tim Hardaway Jr., as head coach Erik Spoelstra speaks on the matter.
Hardaway was signed this offseason to bring dynamic shooting to the team and be an energizer off the bench, especially coming off a season with the Denver Nuggets where he received Sixth Man of the Year consideration, shooting 40.7 percent from deep.
Through nine games in familiar territory in Miami, as he grew up in the city while his father played with the Heat for six years, Hardaway Jr. has averaged 5.1 points while shooting 28.6 percent from the field and 24.3 percent from three-point range. The minutes have been eye-opening, as while his role was a sure-fire to record double-digit minutes, the last two games say otherwise.
Heat's Erik Spoelstra: “I feel for Tim right now”
Playing seven minutes in Wednesday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers and four minutes in the aforementioned loss to the Warriors, as rookie Ryan Conwell has been getting extended play recently. Hardaway is looking to get himself back in the rotation, as Spoelstra explains why it isn't solely the guard's fault.
Article Continues Below“I feel for Tim right now because it’s not really about him,” Spoelstra said, via The Miami Herald. “It’s not necessarily anybody in that second unit right now. We’re just facing some teams that have multiple ball handlers and point-of-attack guys. That was a good lineup for us yesterday when we had D. Mitch and Ryan out there together. It wasn’t really moving the needle for us tonight, so that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen what Hardaway's role looks like with Miami as the next game comes on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.