New addition Kevin Love got the surprise start at power forward on Friday night for the Heat, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. That moved Caleb Martin to the bench for the first time in 2022-23, Winderman adds (via Twitter).
Head coach Erik Spoelstra said it was a bit surprising that Love was available, Winderman writes in a story for the Sun Sentinel.
“First you go through the trade deadline and see if there was anything that makes sense, and there really wasn’t.” Spoelstra said. “And then you’re just hopeful. You’re not really sure of who’s going to get bought out. And you hear rumors. This one was a little bit of a surprise. And then when Kevin became available or at least there was possible discussion about it, everybody was all in on it. It was a no-brainer. The fit just makes a lot of sense for all of us.”
Part of the reason it's surprising that Love got the starting nod is Martin has been solid this season, averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .454/.361/.764 shooting in 49 games (30.3 MPG). The other reason is that Love had been out of Cleveland’s rotation for the final 12 games leading into the All-Star break, which is reportedly why he wanted a buyout — this is his first appearance in a month.
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