Chalmers adjusting to new role (Basketball)
It’s not how you start but how you finish.
Just ask Mario Chalmers.
For the first time in his two-year NBA career, the Alaskan point guard is coming off the bench. But today he proved that it doesn’t matter if you’re in the starting five just as long as you’re in the coach’s fav five at the end of the game.
Chalmers, of Bartlett High fame, got the nod and delivered a scoring touch that helped the Miami Heat close out the New York Knicks 93-87 at MSG.
The 6-foot-1 Alaskan pumped in 11 points, the most he’s scored in five games since his demotion. He played 27 minutes, drained 9 of 12 free throws and made 3 steals, keeping new starter Carlos Arroyo on the bench.
Chalmers apparently lost his starting job because he was late to a morning shootaround last week, the Miami Herald reported, snapping his string of 111 straight starts since entering the league.
“He’ll be given an opportunity to fight for it, depending on how it affects the team dynamic,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told the newspaper. “He does have fight in him, a lot of pride. He probably does have a little bit of an attitude about it. Conflict isn’t bad, when it’s healthy.”
