MIAMI — For years, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has streamlined his evaluation system to the simple notion of, “Make me notice you.”
Sunday night in New York, Heat center Kel’el Ware took it one step further, he made the opposing coach take notice.
Closing with 28 points, 19 rebounds and shooting 5 of 7 on 3-pointers can do that, even if the effort comes in a 132-125 loss.
So before Knicks coach Mike Brown turned his postgame attention to the 47-point effort of New York guard Jalen Brunson, he took time to note how difficult Ware had made the night.
“I’ll tell you, Kel’el Ware, he was a beast tonight on the glass,” Brown said. “This is one of the very few times we got our behinds kicked on the glass, and a lot of it is attributed to him and the way he rebounded on both ends of the floor, and then he shot the mess out of the basketball.
“We told our guys he’s been shooting it really well. We just didn’t get to his body. It’s a little tough because he’s seven feet. So, with a guy like that, you almost got to close all the way to his chest just to try to hopefully make him put it on the floor.”
It was a night when Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns stood second best, even from the 3-point arc, with Towns limited to two points.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Brown continued of Ware. “He’s worked on his ability to shoot the three, and he’s five for seven tonight from the floor and also on the glass.”
Of course, being gracious comes a bit easier when your team exits 20-8.
For Spoelstra and the reeling Heat, Ware’s numbers in the end were part of the team’s seventh loss in eight games, dropping them to 15-14 ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors at Kaseya Center.
“It’s just got to be a collective deal,” Spoelstra said of the need to pair Ware’s numbers with a win. “I like the things that he’s doing. I know everybody on the outside will just notice the stats, but he’s doing winning things. It’s not always just about the stats, but he’s come a long way. He’s improving. I want him to play with confidence.”
Ware said he appreciates that numbers can seem hollow when being discussed in the losing locker room.
“I mean, I’m just trying to impact the game and win that way,” he said. “So I’m not putting up the numbers for my, I guess, for my own looks. I’m trying to put them up so we can get some points on the board, especially with the rebounds so we can come out with the win. But it didn’t turn out that way.”
Ware is 11 of 14 from beyond the arc the past two games, at .480 on 3-pointers for the season.
“I feel like it’s through the flow of the game, through the offense,” he said of such attempts. “When I feel comfortable letting it go, it’s just timing and decisions. Making that decision when it’s the right time.”
Guard Norman Powell cautioned that even in defeat, Ware’s contributions should not be marginalized.
“Kel’el is doing his job,” Powell said. “Everybody has to step up and fill those voids and holes that coaches see and find that competitive edge, whether the shots are going in, whether it’s your night or not. We’ve got to continue to put an imprint on winning.
“I mean, we’re a young team and we’re figuring it out, but we got to hang tough. We got to stay mentally strong and we got to come together collectively to figure out how we can continue to stack wins like we were doing earlier in the season.”