Miami Heat's Haywood Highsmith Making His Mark On Defensive End

Highsmith closed Friday's win against Boston Celtics with starting lineup

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra shook things up a bit when he closed Friday's game against the Boston Celtics with Haywood Highsmith at power forward instead of starter Caleb Martin. 

Highsmith finished with the Heat's highest plus-minus at plus 12. 

"H had some great minutes," Spoelstra said. "Defensively, he really put his nose in there and was competing."

While Highsmith only had two points, he played solid defense against Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum. Tatum was held to 14 points, 16 below his average. 

"Haywood did an unbelievable job with coming in and just playing the game right away, filling in as the closer in the closing lineup," Heat guard Kyle Lowry said.

Highsmith is becoming the Heat's next developmental project. After going undrafted in 2018, he is working his way toward a permanent spot in the rotation. 

"As y'all see, he's learning on the go," Heat center Bam Adebayo said. "He's doing it the best way he can. The one thing I love about H is he plays hard all the time. He may make mistakes but the big thing about him is he plays hard 100 percent all of the time."

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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