Impressive rookie guard Kendrick Nunn has regained his hot hand by staying true to himself, not becoming over-confident and continuing to push the action, Khobi Price of the Sun Sentinel writes.
Nunn, a Rookie of the Year candidate, was averaging 16 points on 46% shooting entering Sunday’s game against San Antonio. He’s provided solid production as the starting point guard with Justise Winslow still rehabbing from a back injury.
“He has to [pick his spots offensively] because there are a lot of guys that are very similar, that are efficient with their shooting attempts,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, as relayed by Winderman. “Our team is built, the success is built on the more guys having an impact. But he’s ignitable. He’s finding his own way to fit into this offense, but fit in with Jimmy [Butler]. Kendrick can score in a lot of those random situations because he has a great feel for getting the ball in the basket.”
Nunn finished with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting against the Spurs, also recording four assists and two steals in 36 minutes. Miami will continue relying on his production as the Heat shoot for a high playoff seed this spring.
“We want Kendrick to be aggressive and we try to put him in the right spots to have a quality shot,”
Goran Dragic said. “He’s great at reading those situations and you can see he can make shots.”
Here are some other notes from Sunday night:
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether the timing of Winslow’s back injury has sabotaged potential trade options, with the veteran set to be re-evaluated by the Heat’s medical staff in two weeks. Winslow would likely play just a few games before the Feb. 6th trade deadline, and that’s only if the 23-year-old returns after his evaluation. Miami currently holds a 29-13 record, but the Heat are just 5-5 in their last 10 games.
- Winderman listed his midseason report cards for each Heat player in a separate Sun Sentinel article, giving Jimmy Butler the highest grade of an A+. Butler has struggled in clutch situations from and behind-the-arc this season, but the veteran forward has propelled Miami to the second-best record in the East on All-Star-level play.
- Despite achieving high success during the first half of the season, Miami remains focused on improving throughout the rest of the campaign, Price writes in a separate story.
“We got something special in the making,” All-Star hopeful Bam Adebayo said, as relayed by Price. “We just have to keep our heads down and keep the same mentality we’ve been having and we’ll be okay.”
