Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 118-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons:
– A week from now the Miami Heat will be in the NBA play-in round.
– Where one or two losses sends you home before the playoffs.
– With, basically, the only thing that Erik Spoelstra’s team has proven to this point is that they can struggle against anyone.
– Seriously, what the heck was this?
– Detroit wanted to lose.
– Needed to lose.
– Sat anyone and everyone possible.
– And there were the Heat, the healthy Heat, playing to their last gasp before Jimmy Butler seized control in the waning minutes.
– Every team in the play-in round will be better than the Pistons.
– Let alone every team in the playoffs.
– And enough about playing down to the competition.
– The Heat knew what was at stake.
– If that’s not enough motivation, then what?
– This is a trip where all focus and energy should have been on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
– Instead, this.
– The Heat have work to do.
– And not much time left to do it.
– The season ends Sunday.
– The play-in round opens Tuesday.
– There has to be more by then.
– A lot more.
– At a time the Pistons will be watching from Cancun.
– It took a while, but apparently spacing has won out with Spoelstra.
– Because even with Bam Adebayo back, Spoelstra remained with Max Strus in his starting lineup.
– Along with Tyler Herro.
– And along with Gabe Vincent.
– In many ways, the same as it was last season.
– With plenty of spacing for Adebayo and Butler.
– So three early threes for Vincent.
– A pair of early threes from Strus.
– And then Hero jumped aboard.
– No, not the optimal defensive quintet.
– But this is a team that needs early rhythm.
– Shooting can spark that.
– And then, at closing time, the defensive lineups can step forward.
– Sustaining? That’s another story.
– But, hey, the start was good.
– The return of Adebayo had Kevin Love coming off the bench for the second consecutive game, his only bench appearances with the Heat.
– It also moved Cody Zeller out of the primary rotation, after he had started Saturday in place of Adebayo.
– Love and Kyle Lowry entered as the Heat’s first two reserves, with Love entering at center for Adebayo.
– With the appearance, Lowry tied LaMarcus Aldridge for 95th on the NBA all-time games list.
– He then was plagued by three early fouls.
– Caleb Martin played as the Heat’s third reserve.
– With Spoelstra keeping the initial rotation to a tight eight.
– Which had Zeller, Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson among those out of the mix.
– Also, because the Heat had 16 available players, one healthy player had to be designated as inactive.
– That was two-way center Orlando Robinson, who was back with the team after participating in the G League playoffs.
– Two-way forward Jamal Cain, who also returned from the G League playoffs, was active.
– The Heat’s other inactive player was rookie forward Nikola Jovic, who remains out with back spasms.
– Butler’s third defensive rebound moved him past Tim Hardaway for 20th on the Heat all-time list.
– Butler’s fifth shot was the 9,500th of his career.
– Vincent’s third 3-pointer moved him past James Jones for 18th on the Heat all-time list.
– Lowry’s third assist moved him past Josh Richardson for 19th on the Heat all-time list.
– Spoesltra bristled pregame when the notion of resting players in advance of the play-in round was raised.
– “We’re staying in the moment,” he said.
– While also acknowledging that postseason planning has begun, with the play-in round coming next week.
– “That’s obviously the responsible thing to do,” he said. “Our staff is working behind the scenes on all those different scenarios. I don’t want to hear any bit of it. They’ve been given a task. It’s also not the first time they have to go through this. But I’m not distracting myself with any of that thought right now.”
– With Adebayo back, Spoelstra was asked if he could envision playing Love alongside Zeller, as Love already has alongside Adebayo.
– “Yeah, I think that would have a very similar potential as Bam and Kevin,” Spoelstra said of Love and Zeller.
– He added, “Right now I do like the fact that we have our depth and we have options and we plan on utilizing any or all of them based on what we need for that night, that game.”
– Lately, when Kyle Lowry has played, then Victor Oladipo has not. Spoelstra was asked if that was a factor of not wanting to ask a veteran such as Oladipo to play nominal minutes.
– “Well, it’s all hands on deck,” he said. “But I do understand the personal side, emotional side of things, particularly of a player of Vic’s caliber and he’s been working back through these injuries and getting himself back to be available every single night and that’s the biggest check mark.”
– Again, Spoelstra turned to the Heat’s health..
– “Now,” he said, “for really the first time this year, we have basically everybody available. So there are some dominos that are impacted by that and we just want to have the guys available. It can be at any moment, any time, whatever we feel like is necessary to get the win and that includes tonight.”
– He added, “So I do have my card, but I’ll go as deep as we need to even if it’s just a three or four-minute stretch.”
– Heat assistant coach Caron Butler was back with the team after spending Monday in Houston watching UConn, his alma mater, win the NCAA championship. The Heat drafted Butler out of Connecticut with the No. 10 pick in 2002.
– “What a program, right?” Spoelstra said of the Huskies. “They have an incredible history and they’ve been able to do it with a lot of different kinds of teams. It was a special run they had this year. Caron is very proud, as he should be.”
– The Pistons practically entered in concession mode.
– Prior to Tuesday’s game, Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver issued a state-of-the-team correspondence to the team’s season-ticket holders.
– “Rebuilding a team does not always follow a linear path, and we experienced that this year with the injury to Cade Cunningham that forced him to miss a majority of the season,” Weaver wrote. “While that injury impacted the continuity of our team, it also presented an opportunity for growth from others.”
– He added, “We are in an excellent spot to upgrade our roster this offseason. We’ve positioned ourselves for another high draft choice in this year’s draft, we have a favorable salary cap position, and we’ll continue to talk with teams and evaluate trade opportunities as they present themselves.”
– But he also noted. “Make no mistake – we are all disappointed with our record this season but are confident that we continue to be on the right path to success.”
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