Cody Zeller, a veteran center who stands 6 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds, has recently found himself lost in the’shadows.’
Zeller, who was a Charlotte lottery pick, was waived twice in 2022 by Portland and Utah. However, Miami acquired him last month and he has helped the Heat out of the bench.
When the Miami Heat host the Atlanta Hawks for the second time in a row, it is anticipated that his role will be to play as a reserve once more on Monday night.
In Miami’s 117-109 victory over Atlanta on Saturday night, Zeller scored a season-high 13 points in 12 minutes.
Zeller is a member of the current Heat reserve team, which also includes Max Strus, Caleb Martin, and Victor Oladipo.
Zeller, 30, was selected fourth overall by the NBA in 2013 but hasn’t started a game since the 2020-21 season. Supporting Miami’s stars, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Jimmy Butler, is now his responsibility.
On Saturday, Adebayo scored a game-high 30 points against Atlanta. He also had five assists and 11 rebounds.
Herro added 20 points on Saturday as well, and Butler had 15 points, 11 rebounds, and a team-high seven assists.
Kevin Love, the new Miami Heat power forward, has performed admirably in his six games since being acquired. However, he has only scored twice in the double digits for Miami.
So far this season, the Heat have won two out of three games against Atlanta.
Meanwhile, in 39 games, Atlanta has scored at least 100 points.
The Hawks have nonetheless struggled with inconsistent play.
Dejounte Murray, for instance, scored a career-high 41 points on 17-for-22 shooting in Friday’s game against Portland. On the other hand, he only managed 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting on Saturday against Miami. In Portland, he hit all five of his three-pointers, but in Miami, he missed all five of his long shots.
Trae Young, the Hawks’ superstar, is another example of inconsistent behavior. On Saturday against Miami, he was held to a season-low eight points on 2-for-13 shooting. That is a significant drop from his 26.7 season scoring average.
Young had an average of 22.1 points and 8.3 assists over his previous 15 games against Miami.
Positively, Saddiq Bey scored 22 points for the Hawks on Saturday. Since the Hawks acquired him on Feb. 9, it was his highest scoring game.
The Hawks’ record on the sidelines since hiring Quin Snyder as coach is 2-2.
