Gabe Vincent has become important part of Heat’s formula: ‘We need his assertiveness’

An NBA season is long. Gabe Vincent is proof of that.

Vincent opened this season in a bench role, was then forced to miss eight straight games in December because of a left knee issue, became the Heat’s starting point guard in February and has turned into one of the team’s most important players in this year’s playoffs.

Vincent’s value was on display in a game he was unavailable for, as the Heat dropped Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Boston Celtics by 13 points on Thursday. Vincent did not play in the loss because of a sprained left ankle he sustained late in Game 4, marking the first game he has missed because of an injury since Dec. 20.

But Vincent will play in Game 6 on Saturday despite his ankle injury.

“Gabe has been Mr. Reliable, and it’s not just scoring,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said earlier in the East finals. “You know, y’all see the scoring but I see him being in the right spots, making the right pass, communicating on defense, taking charges, and you know, he’s doing the little things, and then obviously he can score the basketball, too.”

Vincent, who went undrafted in 2018 before joining the Heat in January 2020, has been especially important and effective in the conference finals. He entered Game 6 of the series averaging 17.5 points per game on an ultra-efficient 57.9 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from three-point range in the conference finals while also serving as a versatile point-of-attack defender in the the Heat’s man and zone schemes.

In the playoffs, Vincent entered Saturday averaging 13.1 points and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range in 15 games as a starter. He’s averaging the third-most points on the team during this year’s playoffs behind only Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.

“My teammates tell me time and time again to come off the pick-and-roll and be aggressive, and then make reads from there,” said Vincent, who will be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. “When they are giving me that confidence and I see a couple go in, I’ll definitely continue to be aggressive.”

Vincent’s scoring and aggressiveness have been needed after the Heat lost guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo to injuries early in the playoffs. Herro and Oladipo remain out for Game 6 of the East finals.

As a result, Vincent entered Saturday shooting 50 percent on three pull-up three-point attempts per game in the East finals. Only Denver’s Jamal Murray and Boston’s Jayson Tatum are averaging more pull-up three-point attempts than Vincent in this round of the playoffs.

“You never know when or where your opportunity will come,” Vincent said of taking on a bigger scoring role this postseason with Herro and Oladipo sidelined. “All you can try to do is try to be ready for it, whether it’s work in the dark or film, just trying to stay prepared, knowing that there’s other facets of my game that I may not have been able to show at this level based on the opportunity provided. And when it was, I just try to take advantage and most importantly help my team win.”

The Heat now needs Vincent and that’s the ultimate compliment,

“We need his assertiveness,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We need his aggressiveness. We need him putting his eyes on the rim and making the right play and everybody wants him to do that.”

DUNCAN THE DRIBBLER

Duncan Robinson is known for his three-point shooting, but he has flashed other aspects of his offensive game for the Heat during the East finals.

With the Celtics trying to keep Robinson off the three-point line, he has countered that aggressive defense by dribbling his way into two-pointers. Robinson entered Saturday averaging four points and one assist on five drives to the basket per game since Game 2 of the series, compared to his regular-season averages of 0.8 points and 0.2 assists on 2.1 drives to the basket per game.

“This is probably the best it’s looked publicly,” Robinson said of his off-the-dribble game. “I feel like I’ve been capable. I feel like this is the best player I’ve been in my entire career just because that’s how development works. You continue to improve and get better.”

Robinson’s improved finishing skills around the basket have also been on display. He entered Game 6 shooting 11 of 12 (91.7 percent) from within the restricted area in the series.

“I think probably just kind of knowing when to use what shots, having a better understanding of defenses at this level, particularly as you move on in the playoffs and how they’re structured and how they’re going to try to take certain things away,” Robinson said of his improved finishing package around the rim. “So just being a little bit more creative with that.”