In Friday’s win over Toronto, Heat newcomer Andrew Wiggins demonstrated his ability to carry Jimmy Butler‘s scoring load, taking control late in the game and emerging as a reliable closer in crunch-time situations.
Wiggins finished with 25 points, his highest total since being traded, including 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We’re all rooting for Wiggs, man,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said, via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Great guy, we love having him here. We’re super happy to have him. He’s just going to continue to get more comfortable with everything we’re doing. We’re trying to feed as much life and as much confidence into him as possible. We’re really happy for him.”
Wiggins, along with fellow trade deadline acquisitions Kyle Anderson and Davion Mitchell, have all adjusted quickly to their new roles in Miami, according to Chiang.
“I feel like they’re embracing it, they’re embracing the culture, they’re embracing the standard,” said Bam Adebayo. “They understand the majority of what we like to do and how we like to compete. I feel like they’ve embraced it. I feel like they’re up for the challenge. So it’s good to have three guys walking in trying to embrace the culture.”
Added coach Erik Spoelstra on Wiggins’ late-game play vs. the Raptors: “It was really important. They were draped all over Tyler and we actually were able to get some pretty good mileage on the two-man action between Tyler and Bam. But then they were loading up. So we just were throwing the ball to Wiggs and letting him make some plays. He had two really good post-ups going down the stretch.”
