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On a night when the Miami Heat withstood a 42-piece from Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler dropped 35 points and 12 dimes and Kevin Love finally looked like, well, Kevin Love, it was one of South Beach’s unlikeliest heroes who arguably made the largest strides.
Namely, veteran pivot Cody Zeller, who was making his first start after being signed off the NBA‘s scrap heap in February.
The former No. 4 overall pick — who had only scored more than six points twice in 13 games heading into the contest — dropped a season-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting during the 129-122 win over the Dallas Mavericks. And he also added eight rebounds and a steal during his 28 minutes of action.
However, the real eye-popping component of the 30-year-old’s big night was his surprisingly potent connection with Butler in the half-court. Five of Zeller’s buckets — and half of his points — were scored at the tin following screen-roll action with Miami’s cornerstone.
In the wake of the win, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear that the odd pairing being such a huge success was anything but a fluke.
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra Addresses the Surprising Success of the Jimmy Butler-Cody Zeller Pick & Roll
Asked whether there was something in play with Butler and Zeller from a speed/rhythm standpoint that allowed them to have success, Spoelstra was emphatic with his response about the two operating on similar wavelengths.
“Jimmy plays at a pace where he allows Cody to get behind the defense and, also, he has the poise and the ability to deliver the ball late,” Spoelstra said.
“We really needed that tonight; those relief points. It couldn’t just be Jimmy on the right block making all these plays. We had to have a lot of plays in between and those relief points, those rolls to the rim… Cody, we always respected about that about him. He has a good feel for how to set screens but also roll to the rim. He could also catch it early and take it to the rim, which he had on a couple dunks, or you can get them late.”
Per Spoelstra, Zeller’s pick-setting was the foundation for the entire process, and what really opened the door for Butler to shine as a facilitator.
“There’s a nuance to it. Cody is a great screener.” Spoelstra said. “He’s physical as a screener, but he also does it with a detailed technique. Every once in a while he’ll get an offensive foul and that’s based on the interpretation of what the official sees. Sometimes they’re bone-crushing; there’s bone-crushing contact that the official may view as, ‘Oh, that’s excessive.’ But it’s not. He does it with really good technique.”
Heat Still Reserving Judgment on Roster Changes
Dating back to before the 2022-23 season tipped off, a vocal contingent of Heat fans were ready to run point guard Kyle Lowry out of town. And there have also been major questions to ask about whether Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo are long for South Florida, too, as neither are in the nightly rotation at this point in time and both are shooting under 40% from the floor and 34% from deep on the year.
Regardless, the Heat have yet to make any determinations about what will happen with the trio — or any of the team’s other players — once the summer is here, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
Apparently, 78 regular-season games just isn’t a big enough sample size.
“The Heat is expected to make roster changes this summer, but discussions have not begun on the extent of those changes,” Jackson wrote. “The Heat wants to see the entirety of the season before making any decisions.”
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