Age-old question: How much does experience mean in playoffs?
Kyle Lowry and Trae Young are moving toward each other Sunday from opposite directions in time.
Young is 23, a rising talent with the future spread before him and Atlanta no matter what happens in this playoff series.
Lowry is 36, a pit bull of a point guard who knows more than any kid. What he primarily knows is this is the moment for which his championship verve was hired by the Miami Heat because no matter how good the No. 1 seed in the East feels, it’s not the endgame.
This is the potential arc of an NBA career, Young’s flash to Lowry’s experience, and it’s not a point-guard matchup the Heat need to win to take this series.
Lowry playing Young even would be fine. It’s probably not even necessary, considering the Heat’s better talent and depth.
But Lowry versus Young is representative of something more in the shrewd manner this Heat roster is constructed. There’s an age-old question here of playoffs being the platform for veterans to either show their wisdom or offer a whiff of the washed up. Which will it be for the Heat? Lowry, Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker are the kind of tough, talented thirtysomethings coach Erik Spoelstra and team President Pat Riley have employed through the years to good success. The only thing they’ve employed better are tough, talented twentysomethings.
They have those too in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. They even discovered young
and hungry types like Max Strus and Caleb Martin.
The medley of ages has made for a fun team to watch, offered options through the 82 games of a challenging regular season and achieved the No. 1 seed in the East.
Still, here’s the thing about basketball: You really pick a player to win a title as much as a team.
For years it was Michael Jordan, then LeBron James. Stephen Curry was at the center of Golden State’s championship runs. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo might become that guy with a second title this year.
The Heat aren’t built like that. They’re
built on a good organization, great depth and a discerning ability to let a different player become the star on any night. That gets to having veterans who fit that idea.
Butler’s brand of passion didn’t work with three other franchises, but it has with the Heat for the most part. Lowry led Toronto to a championship three seasons ago. Tucker played a role in Milwaukee’s title last year. Now these three veterans, all starters, are expected to help the likes of Adebayo and Herro on a long playoff run.
With great expectation comes great consequence too.
Succeed, and the parade of applause never ends. But fail in a manner like last playoffs when the Heat were swept in four games? Then the offseason question becomes whether this team shifts focus more to Adebayo and Herro as the future, or moves on entirely.
The Heat’s architecture has been at this intersection many times under Riley. There is no such thing as a protected position under his watch, no golden status that wards off change if it’s deemed necessary.
He built with veterans like Brian Grant and Eddie Jones, then let them go when they didn’t win. He traded a good, youthful nucleus for Shaquille O’Neal. He quickly saw the possibility of recruiting James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade.
All you know is everything moves swiftly in pro sports.
It was just two seasons ago the Heat and Lakers were in the NBA Finals. The Lakers got old and hurt. They didn’t even make the playoffs this year and fired their title-winning coach, Frank Vogel.
The Heat found more youth, married it with more experience and value the No. 1 seed enough to get it in a league that forever discounts the regular season. They were rewarded with a series versus Atlanta rather than a more dangerous Brooklyn.
Atlanta has talent, has angles to win, but everything points to a quick series — Heat in five games. They’re better, they’re deeper and their veterans were hired for this moment.
Lowry doesn’t need to beat Young. He just needs to help his Heat beat Young’s Hawks.