Both Caleb Martin and Nikola Jovic will not be available tonight.
The Miami Heat will not be without two of their viable PF options in tonight’s rematch vs the Toronto Raptors. In the 3rd quarter of Saturday night’s game, an altercation broke out with Miami’s Caleb Martin and Raptor’s Christian Koloko. It didn’t look like it was anything that big to cause it, maybe just the physicality and grittiness of both players got to them. There was no hard foul, it just seemed like both players were playing hard and got tangled up a bit.
Caleb Martin tackles Christian Koloko into the stands pic.twitter.com/bY4gg7v27p
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) October 23, 2022
Both players were ejected from the game, causing Miami to lose their starting PF for the rest of the night. Luckily, Max Strus got some extra minutes and embraced playing as the 4 for a period of time. The ejection did not end there, as Martin was deemed suspended for one game. The first person to break the news was Shams:
Miami’s Caleb Martin has been suspended for one game due to his role in altercation in Heat-Raptors game Saturday night.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 24, 2022
Although not too serious considering it is just one single game suspension, Martin is definitely going to be yearned in tonight’s rematch. It looked like that starting unit of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, and Bam Adebayo was gaining a little bit of momentum. Miami won the first two quarters by a decently sized margin last game with that starting unit. Especially that big second quarter where Miami had a 33-17 edge and blew the game open to a 24 point lead.
Martins versatility and energy on both ends will be missed. The growth of that starting unit will also surely be missed. After all, it takes time to get a new group of starters to gel and play off one another. So one game this early in the season with Martin not being available for a non-injury reason could hurt for the time being.
Many people would have initially thought this would be a great opportunity for rookie Nikola Jovic to slide into that line up. However, he will also be missed tonight from a one game suspension because of him leaving the bench area during that scuffle.
Miami’s Nikola Jovic has also been suspended one game for leaving the bench area during the altercation. The NBA fined Toronto’s rookie center Christian Koloko for $15,000 for grabbing Martin during the altercation. https://t.co/wdVjUYlIlz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 24, 2022
That leaves the Heat with not many options for the PF slot. The expectation is that Max Strus will fill the void for the night. Something that makes sense after having two 20+ point performances in 3 games off the bench to start the season for Strus. As a team Miami has had success with him as a starter, and he even mentioned in training camp that he has no problem playing as the small ball 4.
Martin will not be available, but this is nothing this team isn’t used to. Next man up mentality, regardless if it’s for the short-term or long-term. The team will be light on bodies for the back up PF position as well, which leaves Haywood Highsmith as the probable person to plug in there for tonight. Maybe Heat fans can even see some Jamal Cain or Udonis Haslem minutes.