Butler, Herro questionable for Game 4
Health remains a factor in these Eastern Conference Finals, with two key Heat players and two Celtics starters hoping to be healed enough to play in Monday’s Game 4 in Boston.
The Heat listed Jimmy Butler (knee inflammation) and Tyler Herro (groin strain) as both questionable for Game 4 (8:30 p.m, ABC). Erik Spoelstra said Sunday that he had no update on their status; the team had a meeting but no practice on Sunday.
The Heat training staff decided to hold Butler out of the second half of Saturday’s game after the knee become inflamed. There was cautious optimism — but not certainty — on Sunday that he would be able to play in Game 4, barring a setback. He missed Game 5 in the first round against Atlanta with the same injury. Yahoo reported that Butler plans to play Monday.
“He didn’t have his, like, normal explosive burst,” Spoelstra said Saturday night. “He’s been able to manage this. I think the next two days will be really important, obviously.”
As for Herro, he left for good with the groin injury with 8:11 left in the fourth quarter.
“Tyler had to come out just so the trainers could see what it was,” Spoelstra said Sunday.
Spoelstra opted to keep Victor Oladipo in the game instead of turning back to Herro, a decision that Spoelstra said was fueled by Herro’s injury and Oladipo’s strong play.
Was Herro cleared to go back in?
“Depends on who you ask,” Spoelstra said. “If you ask Tyler, yes. The trainers didn’t say definitively no; they were working on [him].”
Groin injuries often take time to heal, depending on the severity. The fact the Heat listed Herro as questionable — and not out or doubtful — was seemingly a good sign regarding the severity of his strain.
Herro shot 4 for 15 and 0 for 6 on threes; he has now missed 21 of his last 23 three-pointers.
Kyle Lowry (hamstring strain) was listed as questionable for Game 4, but he said late Saturday night that he felt fine after his first game back from missing four in a row with that injury.
P.J. Tucker (knee irritation), Max Strus (hamstring strain) and Gabe Vincent (hamstring strain) are also listed as questionable but are expected to play in Game 4.
Meanwhile, the Celtics said they aren’t sure whether guard Marcus Smart or center Robert Williams would be available for Game 4. Both are listed as questionable.
“Marcus has some swelling in his ankle,” coach Ime Udoka said Sunday. “He took a pretty bad sprain, finished the game, will feel it a little more today. We’ll see how it feels [Tuesday]. Rob is a little better than [Saturday]. We’ll see how he feels in shootaround.”
Williams missed Game 3 with knee discomfort.
Jayson Tatum, who left Game 3 briefly with a stinger, is fine, Udoka said.
As for Lowry, he played 12 minutes in the first half and 17 in the second half of Game 3, finishing with 11 points, 6 assists and four steals.
Spoelstra said “there is no definitive minutes restriction” with Lowry, and “we just have to be mindful of it and give him breaks during the game so he’s not running past exhaustion…
“Definitely talking to trainers on that. I’m in constant communication with Kyle. The plan was to be a lot more conservative in the first half to leave us with a little more leeway down the stretch and it turned out that way.”
Spoelstra said Lowry “definitely looks healthy. His savviness, his toughness, showed itself times 10 [in Game 3]. It’s the confidence he gives everyone. Screaming and encouraging Bam [Adebayo] when he had opportunities to score. He set up that [critical threepointer that stretched a one-point lead to four] for Max at the end. The quarterback position gets people organized and inspires a higher level from everybody, and Kyle does that as well as anybody in this game.”
OLADIPO DELIVERS
Oladipo, who didn’t play in the first half, started the second half in place of Butler and had four steals (twice as many as the Boston team for the entire game) and eight pass deflections
(one more than the Celtics).
What Oladipo contributes is “usually his offense,” Tucker said Saturday night. “But his lateral slides and quickness, it was unbelievable. I told him tonight, that was some of the best lateral foot speed I’ve seen anybody have because Jaylen Brown, when he gets going, especially right, he’s tough to get back in front of. For Vic to square him up was unreal. He gave us a spark.
“We talked about it at the half, knowing he was about to start the half and play. To not play at all and then step in and do what he did in the second half, that level of professionalism is few and far between.”
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford tweeted: “Vic Oladipo’s stats won’t justify the game he actually played. They don’t win this game without him.”
Oladipo cracked: “You can’t really prepare yourself to be Jimmy.”
The Heat’s 19 steals Saturday were its most ever in a playoff game and the most in any NBA playoff game since 2015.
Despite scoring 40 and getting to the line 12 times, Brown complained about the officiating after Game 3:
“They let a lot of stuff go tonight, especially when I feel like I drive and I get to the basket, I feel like it’s two hands on me all the time,” Brown said. “I never get those hand-checking calls.”
Brown committed seven turnovers.
Per Elias, the Heat is the first team to have a lead after three games of a series after outscoring the opponent in just two of 12 quarters. Asked about that, Spoelstra said: “At the end of the game, when the clock turns to zero, did we win or did we lose? That’s what our focus is on.”