Spoelstra doesn’t want credit for Heat’s Game 2 win, but praise still coming. Also, Rozier still out
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is constantly pushing the credit away from himself and onto his players.
But the praise still continues to come in for Spoelstra, especially after the eighth-seeded Heat made big adjustments on both ends of the court to bounce back from a 20-point loss in Game 1 and defeat the top-seeded Boston Celtics 111-101 on Wednesday in Game 2 at TD Garden to steal home-court advantage.
Despite not having starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier because of injuries, the Heat evened the best-of-7 series at 1-1 after entering Game 2 as huge 14.5-point underdogs.
“We’re effusive in our praise of Erik Spoelstra,” NBA analyst Tim Legler said on the All NBA podcast following the Heat’s Game 2 win in Boston. “I’ve said, give me any 10 players, whether it’s at the health club down the street or the Olympic team or any team in the NBA, that’s the guy I would want to coach any 10 players you hand me. That’s how much respect I have for Erik Spoelstra — how smart he is, how passionate he is, he’s energized. Everything you want a coach to be, he is.”
With no Playoff Jimmy, Adebayo and Herro at center of Heat’s plan vs. Celtics: ‘We go as they go’
On the offensive end, Spoelstra and his staff implored players to turn up the three-point volume in Game 2 in response to the Celtics’ soft closeouts and defensive game plan to send extra defenders at the Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro pick-and-roll. As a result, the Heat shot 23 of 43 (53.5 percent) from three-point range on Wednesday to set a new franchise record for the most three-point makes in a playoff game and outscore the Celtics 69-36 from behind the arc.
On the defensive end, the Heat went away from the blitzing and drop coverage it used in Game 1 and turned to a switching scheme against the Celtics’ high-powered offense in Game 2. The strategy worked to slow Boston’s usually impressive ball movement and force more one-on-one isolation situations, as the Celtics totaled just 21 assists during its 101-point performance.
The Celtics, which posted the NBA’s top regular-season record at 64-18, fell to 7-7 this season when finishing with 21 or fewer assists and 1-5 this season when scoring 101 or fewer points.
Not wanting to give away too much information, Herro said the Heat’s switching worked to “slow them down a little bit.” Heat forward Caleb Martin added that the adjustment to switch more “gives them different looks.”
For Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, the Heat’s defensive adjustments “make us think also.”
“They do this on one possession, then they do another thing on another possession, then they switch, then they don’t,” Porzingis said after the Celtics’ practice in Boston on Thursday. “So that can freeze you a little bit, because you start to think a little bit, then you rush a little bit into the next actions. It’s this game they play. It’s like a game in the game and they’re good at that. So you have to give them credit.”
But Spoelstra doesn’t want any of that credit, noting after Friday’s practice at Kaseya Center that “this is not about scheming to get a win.”
“I’m not out there playing,” said Spoelstra, who is in his 16th season as the Heat’s head coach and signed a new eight-year contract extension earlier this season worth more than $100 million. “It’s a collective competitive spirit. The playoffs are so competitive, the margins for error are so small. There’s a couple hundred plays that need to be made and how many of those can you win as a basketball team. That’s usually what it comes down to are those plays from your most competitive guys.”
The Heat’s most competitive guys, though, know how important Spoelstra is to the team’s success.
“Everyone knows what Spo does at this time of the year,” Herro said. “So we just try to let Spo do him and understand that he knows his adjustments he likes to make from game to game. We just follow his lead. He puts us in the right positions and we just execute.”
STILL THE UNDERDOG
Even after taking home-court advantage from the Celtics in Game 2, the Heat knows it’s still heavy underdogs in its first-round playoff series against the Celtics.
“People still doubt us,” Adebayo said. “People still think we’re not going to win the series, people still have their opinions about us. For us, we won one game. It’s still first to four.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Heat stood as 9.5-point home betting underdogs for Game 3 against the Celtics on Saturday (6 p.m., Bally Sports Sun and TNT).
“We do understand that it’s not going to be easy in any way, shape or form,” Herro said of Game 3. “They’re the best team on paper for a reason and that’s what it’s going to be. It’s going to be competition and lots of ups and downs, runs that we have to answer and stuff like that. So it will be a great game.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat remains without Butler (sprained right MCL) and Rozier (neck spasm) for Game 3 on Saturday against the Celtics. It will mark the fourth straight game that Butler has missed and the ninth straight game that Rozier has missed with their respective injuries.
While Butler is expected to miss several weeks, Rozier’s return at some point during the first round has not yet been ruled out. The Heat also remains without Josh Richardson (season-ending shoulder surgery).
The only other Heat player on the injury report for Game 3 is guard Delon Wright, who is questionable because of personal reasons. Write has been effective off the Heat’s bench to begin the series, logging 26 minutes in Game 1 and 20 minutes in Game 2.
Meanwhile, the Celtics could have their full roster available for Game 3. Backup center Luke Kornet, who is Boston’s only player on the injury report, has been upgraded to probable after missing the first two games of the series with a calf strain.
