Spoelstra stuck with starting 5 despite recent woes
BOSTON
Elimination games sometimes force teams to make big changes to save their seasons, but Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t feel that was necessary.
Despite the starting lineup’s struggles in the previous two games, Spoelstra stuck with the same group to begin
Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night at TD Garden.
The five-man combination of Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker and Bam Adebayo was outscored by an alarming 39 points in 26 minutes in Games 4 and 5 of the series. This group had outscored teams by 54 points in 106 minutes together since it became the Heat’s starting lineup in late March before this recent two-game stretch.
“These are tough decisions,” Spoelstra said ahead of Game 6 on Friday morning. “We’re going with that lineup. It has been a really successful lineup. Then based on the moment of the game, you can’t make necessarily sweeping generalizations on things.
“This is a fast-moving series and that happens with two competitive teams. Who can get to who, who can get to their strengths more often, who can take the other team out of their strengths. It’s a fine line between doing those things and then making adjustments.”
Most of the recent issues stem from the lineup’s sudden inability to hit outside shots. In the 26 minutes the starting lineup played together in Games 4 and 5, they combined to miss all 22 of their three-point attempts.
But injuries have also taken a toll: Butler has been playing through a swollen right knee and Lowry is dealing with the lingering effects of a strained left hamstring that forced him to miss eight games this postseason.
“Those guys are confident,” Tucker said of Butler and Lowry. “They’re great players. They’ve been around.”
But Tucker conceded it can be difficult if players are “not feeling like they’re healthy, feeling like they’re not themselves and still having to play.”
HERRO STILL OUT
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year this season, missed his third straight game Friday because of a strained left groin.
Herro, 22, traveled with the team to Boston and was listed as questionable on the injury report for Game 6 before being ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff. The Heat continued to take a cautious approach with the injury despite Herro’s push to play.
“These are not easy conversations or decisions,” Spoelstra said of holding out Herro again. “He’s definitely made progress, but he’s not quite ready to step into this kind of intensity of a game.
“As badly as he wants to get out there, this is the most responsible decision for us.”
The rest of the Heat’s roster was available to play Friday.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Heat guard Victor Oladipo, 30, has accomplished a lot during his
NBA career, but this is the first time that he has played past the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s just different,” Oladipo said of his first conference finals experience. “It’s self-explanatory. It speaks for itself. You’re closer to the Finals. In the Eastern Conference finals, everything is hard and everything is tougher. ... Now that I’m here, I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
The former All-Star had played in just 16 NBA playoff games before this season. He had played for Orlando, Oklahoma City, Indiana and, very briefly, Houston before joining the Heat in March 2021.
“I can look at the Eastern Conference finals and watch it from afar,” Oladipo continued. “But until I’m in it, I won’t really grasp the intensity and the feeling of actually being in it.”
FINALS SCHEDULE
The Golden State Warriors punched their ticket to the NBA Finals on Thursday night, and the league then released the schedule for the best-ofseven championship series. (All games on ABC.)
Game 1: Thursday at Warriors, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, June 5, at Warriors, 8 p.m.
Game 3: Wednesday, June 8, at East winner, 9 p.m.
Game 4: Friday, June 10, at East winner, 9 p.m.
Game 5*: Monday, June 13, at Warriors, 9 p.m.
Game 6*: Thursday, June 16, at East winner, 9 p.m.
Game 7*: Sunday, June 19, at Warriors, 8 p.m.
*If necessary.