Herro out with muscle strain, eyes Game 5 return
The Heat ruled out Tyler Herro for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals because of a groin injury, but Jimmy Butler and every other Heat player were available Monday.
Butler missed the second half of Game 3 with a knee contusion. The other Heat players who were listed as questionable — P.J. Tucker, Kyle Lowry, Max
Strus and Gabe Vincent were able to play.
Herro said he hopes to return for Game 5 on Wednesday but isn’t yet sure.
“I want to play; my plan is to play through it,” he said after consulting with the Heat medical staff following Monday morning’s Heat shootaround at TD Garden. “I don’t think it can get much worse [if I play]. It’s a muscle irritation. A little strain. I want to be cautious.”
Could he miss extended time? “No,” he said. “I hope not.”
He said the injury is “something I’ve been dealing with for a couple weeks. Just a small, minor thing. And third quarter [Saturday], I landed awkwardly on it and kind of tweaked it and then another play at the end of the third, kind of added to it. So we want to be cautious.”
He said there’s some discomfort when he runs.
“Wednesday is the date” he’s targeting.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said: “We just had to really be responsible and take the decision out of his hands. He really wants to be out there.
“The trainers and Dr. [Harlan] Selesnick don’t think that’s the best idea, because of the intensity and everything. But we’ll see. He’s young. We’ll treat him day to day and we’ll see what happens from there.”
HEAT UPSET
The Heat was not happy that Celtics guard Payton Pritchard grabbed Butler’s knee with 6:14 left in the second quarter Saturday; he subsequently left the game at halftime of Game 3 with knee inflammation.
Butler was beginning a drive to the basket, just above the three-point line, when Pritchard grabbed Butler’s knee to bring him down.
“It was not a basketball play,” Spoelstra said. “We’re not sure why it was determined it was a basketball play, or that was a legal play or that was a safe play.
Spoelstra said the team doesn’t know if Pritchard’s actions caused the knee inflammation.
“It could have had an effect,” Spoelstra said. “I did not see it right away. I didn’t see it until the staff noticed it. We don’t care. They can do whatever they want. That has nothing do with us trying to compete.”
But he said the Heat will
not bring the matter to the league office.
“We’re not going to say it’s bigger than it was, because we don’t know if that’s what triggered Jimmy’s injury,” Spoelstra said. “We don’t need it. We don’t care. The league doesn’t have to do anything. We’re not crying. We’re not begging for anything.”
How did Butler feel about it? “It doesn’t matter,” Spoelstra said.
Butler wasn’t available for comment on Monday morning.
THIS AND THAT
Boston forward Grant Williams, reflecting on Bam Adebayo’s 31-point Game 3 on 15-for-22 shooting, said there are some things from Adebayo that the Celtics can live with, and some things they cannot tolerate.
“If he beats you in isolation, you’ve got to be OK
with that,” Williams said. “He’s making midrange shots, and you have to tip your cap to him. If he makes them, he makes them.”
But… “don’t allow easy baskets — rolls to the rim,” Williams said.
Heat wing Duncan Robinson played four minutes in Game 3, his first meaningful first-half action in a game in this series. He did not play in Game 1 and logged 14 second-half minutes in Game 2, when the outcome was settled.
Robinson had two points and an assist. He was 0 for 6 on threes going into Monday.
“Every single game in this series, he’s been on my mind,” Spoelstra said. “We definitely can use his spacing, his shooting. He creates a different kind of trigger, accesses a different part of the menu for us. That’s important. It depends on the flow, circumstances of the game. I can have an idea [who’s going to play] but
I’m not going to just totally predetermine something.”
After scoring 27 points in 22 minutes in the Heat’s first playoff game against Atlanta, Robinson played 6, 14, 9 and 12 minutes in the final four games of the Hawks series and then logged a combined 18 minutes in six games against Philadelphia.
“He’s emotionally steady,” Spoelstra said. “It doesn’t mean he loves it.
But he’s ready for those minutes when they happen. I thought those minutes were good [in Game 3]. I was fully intending to play him in the second half; we just didn’t get to it. It could be different.” in Game 4.
After shooting 8 for 9 on three-pointers in the playoff opener, Robinson was 3 for 19 on threes since.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said he must do a better job getting better shots for Jayson Tatum, who missed 11 of 14 shots and committed six turnovers in a 10point Game 3.
“It’s four in the paint, five in the paint every time he penetrates,” Udoka said. “We can move him around a little more, knowing they’re switching everything, showing him a crowd and he’s not going to get a lot of great looks.
“He knows he didn’t play his best. One thing he always does is bounce back well. I don’t have to say much to him. We’re all pissed off about it.”
Udoka and his team reviewed tape of the Heat’s 109-103 win in Game 3 and the coach said “we looked at how physical they were, how aggressive they were to start the game. We were kind of caught off guard by that. I could have done a better job.
“Miami tries to go harder, be more physical. It was a little disappointing for us to get caught off guard by that knowing that’s what they go to. There are ways to combat some of their aggressiveness.”
Though Jaylen Brown scored 40 points, he also committed seven turnovers in Game 3.
“They’ve got some high level guys that take charges,” Udoka said, saying it’s important that Brown “not get sped up. He has to understand one dribble too many [and then] you’re in that crowd. He had some unforced ones like everyone else.”
Spoelstra, asked about winning quarters amid much being made on social media about the Celtics winning 10 of 12 quarters in the series, said: “We’re just focused on just trying to win the game. I get confused on all that stuff. It’s hard enough to focus on beating a good team.
“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.”