Heat’s Caleb Martin Feels His Twin Brother’s Pain (And Vice Versa) – Sun Sentinel

CHARLOTTE — The symmetry between Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin and Charlotte Hornets twin brother Cody Martin has always been strong. Same high school, same college start in the state of North Carolina, same college degree in Nevada, same NBA start with the Hornets, who each sign a three-year free agent contract in July.

And now, brothers in pain, Caleb pushing through a strained left quadriceps that hasn’t fully subsided after seven games, Cody missed his seventh straight game due to knee pain as the Hornets hit the Heat at the Spectrum Center on Sunday met

In that regard, partnering with Pain has added another element to their journey together.

“Chances are, if one of us is dealing with something, the other has already taken care of it,” Caleb said ahead of Sunday’s game, the start of a four-game journey. “I felt like he was doing a great job of giving me advice on certain things because he’s been through it himself and vice versa.

“He’s definitely an outlet that I use a lot when I’m mentally confused.”

And despite returning to the Heat starting lineup two weeks ago, Caleb still struggles with a body that’s not always ready, complicating a game that relies on athleticism and explosiveness.

“It’s tough,” Caleb said. “It’s a mental challenge. You’re very attached to that part of your game, especially for my role. So it’s a lot of time mentally. And sometimes it bleeds into my game to stay confident.

“But sometimes you just have to bring that up mentally and sort of get over it. Everyone goes through their own version of it. It’s not really an apology. So I just have to try to get in there and do what I can and what my body allows me to do.”

While there are plenty of moments when that offseason investment of $20.4 million pays off as money well spent, recently such moments have come in spurts rather than the sustained game that led to promotion to the starting roster this season, with the quad taking a toll on him mentally and physically.

“Definitely both,” Caleb said. “I feel like just mobility wise it’s difficult to get that extra push around the guys, take that first quick step, not even bother with the guy that’s closing and sometimes a little bit more bodies than I’m used to. And so I’m just trying to get used to being a little bit slower and stiffer.

“I’m feeling like I’ve been in the last week and a half, hopefully I’ll just keep trending in that direction. And I will continue to work with the medical staff and just pass on what I have.”

Notably different in Martin’s approach is his reluctance to start 3-pointers despite his .372 leading the 3-point percentage heat that went into Sunday.

“Like I said, just part of a mental battle that’s about staying confident and just shooting open shots,” he said. “Because that’s what Coach preaches all the time, when you pass those open shots they tend to lead to bad shots. So I just have to keep fighting my way through and get out of the crisis.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team decided it was wiser to leave Omer Yurtseven (ankle), Nikola Jovic (back) and Duncan Robinson (fingers) for the trip, although the team won’t be returning home until next weekend .

“The work they can do right now is just too significant there,” Spoelstra said of Heat’s training facility. “And they’re not ready to take the next step to be ready to play.”

The schedule with Robinson’s finger surgery in early January may have set him back in a month.

“Duncan was really pushing to be a part of this trip,” Spoelstra said. “We thought about it because community is important. But the work he is able to do at our facility consistently trumps that and I think it will speed up the process for them, most importantly, getting them to that next step that we all want.”