Spoelstra has big goals for Crowder
Spoelstra wants Crowder shooting from greater lengths
The goal isn’t necessarily to turn Jae Crowder into Duncan Robinson. But that doesn’t mean Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t considering going mad scientist with the 30-year-old veteran.
With Crowder having converted seven 3-pointers in his two starts heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Celtics at the NBA’s Disney World restart, Spoelstra said he wouldn’t mind more.
In terms of distance.
“The most important thing,” Spoelstra said, “is he spaces the floor and he hits important ones historically over the course of his career. He seems to rise to the occasion. Yeah, I want him spacing the floor and shooting with great confidence.
“If anything, I want him to shoot from deeper range, to help widen the court for us. He has range to 25 feet. I would love him for him to space out there and shoot a couple of those a game.”
Inserted into the starting power rotation in place of Meyers Leonard at the outset of the league’s resumption, Crowder shot 3 of 4 on 3-pointers in Saturday’s 125-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets. He then shot 4 of 10 on 3s in Monday’s 107-103 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Crowder, who started all 45 of his appearances with the Memphis Grizzlies before being acquired by the Heat at the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline and has 30 career playoff starts on his resume, said starting is secondary to the ultimate goal.
“I don’t get too caught up into starting the game,” he said. “I obviously would like to finish the game more than start the game. That’s my mentality.”
Home-road: Even with the remainder of the regular season to be completed on the neutral campus of the Wide World of Sports complex, the NBA still is recording statistics and results based on whether a game is deemed home or road.
For example, with Denver the designated home team Saturday, the Heat were credited with a road victory. By contrast, as the