Miami Heat's Caleb Martin Making His Mark On Defensive End

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler has a habit of deflecting attention when he gets too much credit.

This time, Butler was serious when speaking on how forward Caleb Martin impacted Friday's win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Martin played a strong role in the Heat making second-half defensive adjustments.

"Caleb came in and changed the game on the defensive end and we really admired that," Butler said. "It sets a tone that everybody has to follow suit. It always helps to make shots but my goodness the effort and energy that he played with really changed the game."

Martin was called upon to defend Cavs star Donovan Mitchell in the second half. Although Mitchell had a game-high 42 points, Martin had a couple stops during crunch time.

His ability to defend at so many positions is why coach Erik Spoelstra recently compared him to former NBA All-Star and Heat player Shawn Marion.

"It's the quick twitch," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It's the plays that are in between, it's the intangibles. He just imposes his speed, his quickness, his will in a lot of different facets. Defensively, he can turn energy defensive plays into transition going the other way. He's arguably our quickest, fastest guy. When he's at his very best, you feel that speed."

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