Heat’s Erik Spoelstra teases new role for Kel’el Ware ahead of play-in

With the Miami Heat preparing for its fourth straight play-in tournament, there is one game left in the regular season on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks that could bring them up a seed to host a contest in the tourney. As the Heat are looking to overcome their own woes, they got some relief by dominating the Washington Wizards on Friday, 140-117, that featued a lineup change that could be permanent.

Miami was undermanned as Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and Davion Mitchell didn’t play in the win, as the starting lineup featured Ware, rookie Kasparas Jakucionis, and Simone Fontecchio.

The second-year center would record 12 points on five of seven shooting from the field, two of four from three-point range, to go along with eight rebounds. The change would put him next to Bam Adebayo, which has been a fan-favorite duo.

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra hints at starting Kel’el Ware for rest of the season

With Pelle Larsson going to the bench, head coach Erik Spoelstra would allude that Ware in the starting lineup is one he wants to stay.

“A lot of it was trying to get Kel’el into that lineup,” Spoelstra said, via the team’s YouTube page. “Kel’el is really important to what we’re trying to do. We all know about his upside. This can get him next to Bam [Adebayo], stabilize him a little bit to start the game. And then it gives us a little bit of flexibility as the game moves on.”

“Sometimes in the last couple of weeks, some of the lineups with Bam have been really good,” Spoelstra continued. “And then we end up going longer with that, and it just ends up being longer for Kel’el sitting on the bench. And he’s a key player for us, so this allows him to get some minutes right out of the gate.”

Subsequently, as Miami is 10th in the East, a win over the Atlanta Hawks and a Charlotte Hornets loss to the New York Knicks would put them at ninth to host Charlotte in the first game of the play-in tournament.

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