Kel’el Ware continued a tremendous run on Thursday with the Miami Heat and joined some rare company with his latest performance in a road loss against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ware produced 22 points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in the 125-96 loss at Fiserv Forum. He finished by shooting 9-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, in 35 minutes as a starter for his third straight game with at least 20 points.
The 15th pick became the first Heat rookie to record at least 20 points and two blocks in three consecutive games and just the 10th first-year player since 1990 to do so, joining the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Victor Wembanyama and Joel Embiid.
Ware played sporadically early on to begin the season with the Heat, seeing only minimal time in 10 of their first 25 games.Ā He has since played in each of their last 18 games, averaging 11.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on 59.9% shooting from the field over that span.
The 7-footer has started the last two games for the Heat and became one of four rookies in franchise history to register a double-double in their first two starts. He is one of three rookies this season to register consecutive double-doubles, joining Zach Edey and Yves Missi.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said last month that the organization has been impressed with Ware and that he’d eventually get the opportunity to log significant minutes for the team. He has finally been given that opportunity, and the 20-year-old has responded in a significant way.
