Wanting more, Victor Oladipo was given more. The next phase is being able to handle more.

Such is the complexity of returning in the middle of a playoff race from a 10-month absence following May quadriceps surgery.

Ahead of Monday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings at FTX Arena, Oladipo reflected on his Miami Heat comeback attempt and going 25 minutes in Saturday night’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, after not playing more than 20 in the first five games of his return.

“Obviously, it was different,” Oladipo told the Sun Sentinel. “That was my first time playing 20-plus minutes in a long, long time, so yeah, it felt different. But I’m just glad to be able to do it, and just going to continue to keep building on it.”

The minutes were available with the Heat raising the white flag and pulling the starters in a game when the deficit reached a season-worst 37 in the third quarter.

“I mean, I think given the circumstance I think it was easy for me to kind of get a little more reps, fortunately or unfortunately,” he said, “however you want to look at it.”

The longer the minutes amid this career renewal, the deeper Oladipo, 29, said he has to dig. But he believes only with the minutes can he move closer to prior form.

“Honestly,” he said, “I just need to play more basketball. I don’t know and I can’t tell unless I play and continue to try. I need more reps, more time. I got to get myself my time, more basketball over the next few weeks and just keep playing and things will eventually click.

“It’s not going to come overnight. I missed a long period of time. And also missed a long period of time not healthy, as well, when you think about the last two years.”

And yet nothing is a given.

Some of Oladipo’s recent minutes came in the injury absence of Gabe Vincent, who has pushed past his toe injury. Now the games are about to get even more significant, with playoff showdowns against the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors coming on a three-game trip that opens Wednesday.

The minutes, Oladipo said, are not his decision, as the April 10 end of the regular season and April 16 start of the NBA playoffs draw closer.

“I mean at the end of the day, I can’t answer that question. I don’t really know. I’m not in control,” he said.

But the work away from the court is unceasing, including a weight session immediately after Saturday’s 25-minute appearance.

“I know it takes time,” he said. “So I just got to keep playing and eventually my body and my mind will figure it out.”

With it taking a village to help chart his course.

“Obviously, you can’t hurry love. So you can’t hurry this, either,” he said. “So at the end of the day, I’m back, playing. But we got to be smart about it, obviously.

“You don’t want to do too much too fast, whatever the case may be. But I’m going to do whatever I can, with whatever I’m doing. So just got to go out there and keep playing hard.”

Asked to rate the comeback to this stage, on a scale from frustrating to encouraging, his ubiquitous smile offered the answer.

“I wasn’t playing basketball three weeks ago, so it ain’t nowhere near frustrating for me,” he said. “I just need to keep playing. If I keep playing, I know I’m going to get back to where I need to be.

“I know it’s going to take time, so I’m just staying patient. But I have no doubt that I’ll find my rhythm and flow and get back to being who I was before. So I have no doubt in my mind. I just have to trust the process. That’s what I’m doing.”

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