Heat find their rhythm vs. Pacers
‘All good now’ as Heat find their rhythm in a big way on eve of the NBA playoffs
The quest for the Miami Heat, especially around this time of the season — even with it coming in a different portion of the calendar — is to, as coach Erik Spoelstra likes to say, “reach another level.”
The week certainly began with such ascension with Monday night’s rout of the Indiana Pacers opening a window into what could come next when the NBA playoffs open next week.
The lineup appears to be falling into place.
The defense is being played with purpose.
Health concerns have dissipated.
“We had a heightened sense of urgency,” guard Duncan Robinson said, as the team turned its attention to Wednesday’s nationally televised 8 p.m. game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where a victory would lock up the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
To put Monday’s moment in perspective is to simply listen to the opposing locker room, after the Heat smothered the Pacers into .393 shooting and turned Disney bubble revelation T.J. Warren back into NBA journeyman T.J. Warren.
“Miami just made it tough on us,” Pacers forward Doug McDermott said. “It was just hard all night to get into a rhythm.”
“We couldn’t really get anything going,” Indiana guard Victor Oladipo offered.
“They’re able to guard you,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said.
It was a night that left the Heat feeling good, particularly because they were feeling good. Jimmy Butler returned from the foot ailment that had him out the previous three games, and Goran Dragic was back from the ankle pain that had him out the previous two.
“Love competing with these guys,” said Butler, who outscored
Warren 19-12 and then added some postgame Instagram shade. “It’s great to have Goran back, as well. So now we’ve just got to keep stringing them together and start playing the best basketball at the right time.”
After sorting through 13 previous lineups, the Heat unveiled a 14th on Monday that well could be the one that opens in the playoffs, with Dragic in the first five, a unit that Monday had all five starters scoring in double figures.
It is a grouping that took shape at the start of the Heat’s eight “seeding” games to conclude the regular season, a schedule that finishes up Friday again against the Pacers. The most dramatic move with that group was inserting Jae Crowder into the opening mix, at the expense of former starter Meyers Leonard, who has yet to play in the games at the Wide World of Sports complex.
“Look, there’s nothing normal about this,” Spoelstra said of the quarantine setting, with games played in the void of fans. “I mentioned that before: I wanted to make sure coming into this bubble that I’m open minded to whatever course this team takes, and these are tough decisions. It sucks, really. I’m happy for Jae and that unit. It’s working out. But that starting unit that started so many games for us was one of the best lineups in the league, and that was pre-pandemic.
“The world and the league and all the situations have changed, and we’re just adapting. I’ll continue to be open to whatever we need to do, but Jae has just been a great fit for our team. That’s the most important thing.”
With Wednesday marking four weeks for the Heat in the NBA’s bubble setting, after the league had shut down for four months due to the coronavirus pandemic, it could be a time when a sense of drudgery enters the equation. Instead, the Heat appear revitalized with the playoffs less than a week away.
“I express this to our team all the time,” Spoelstra said, “I’m just extremely grateful and I know our players are really grateful that we just have this opportunity to continue our season and then look forward to the playoffs and have an opportunity to compete for a title.
“Two months ago, it didn’t really look like this was a realistic opportunity. You see what’s going on around the world, other leagues, colleges. Not everybody has been given this opportunity to continue to do what we love. And we are. And you want to take advantage of it.”
Now, with the opportunity reach yet another level.
“Hey, we’re out here completing a season and just about on the brink of the playoffs in a global pandemic,” Spoelstra said. “It’s just all good right now, the fact that we’re able to do this.” to
Kendrick Nunn could be back in the mix Wednesday for the Heat at Disney.