Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Packed paint latest obstacle for offense
MIAMI — The congestion in the standings largely is a product of what the Miami Heat have done to themselves. The congestion in the paint is a hint of what might come next from opponents in the postseason.
In the absence of Duncan Robinson amid his ongoing back ailment, opponents have opted to pack the paint against the Heat, an approach never more apparent than in Wednesday night’s costly blowout loss to the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
In a game where Bam Adebayo struggled in the post and Jimmy Butler was unable to find space in the paint, the Mavericks often had four defenders with a foot in the lane.
Considering postseason opponents amp up their scouting, it could be an indicator of what potentially will follow next for the Heat.
“There’s details for sure that we have to pay attention to,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat closing out their regular-season schedule with Friday night and Sunday afternoon games against the Toronto Raptors at Kaseya Center. “As teams start to scheme against Bam, that’s a great compliment. We have to be able to counter that, and we’ve worked at that for the last several weeks, because more teams have been doing that.
“And we still need to find a way to get him to his strength zones. It takes everybody connected, working together, to be able to do that.”
Already, the scouting has upped the challenge.
“They’re not as easy reads as they were at the beginning of the year,” Spoelstra said. “You can’t expect them to be. But there has to be intention and every single possession there has to be intention, there has to be a motor, there has to be things done with pace and detail.
“And then moving the ball, it’s gotten a little sticky of late, where I think the competitive nature of our group, guys really want to will it and we’re holding it a little longer than what is appropriate for our team and we’re missing some moments.”
Adebayo said that means prioritizing getting back to the video.
“We try to get into the paint, be aggressive and make plays from there,” he said. “For us, we’ve just got to be better, watch film, collab, figure it out.”
While direct entry to the playoffs with a top-six seed would have meant a week to work out such details, the play-in portion of the equation reduces that opportunity to a day or two.
“We’re going to fix that,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll get this right.”
It is not as if there is any other choice at this stage.
“All I’m thinking about is getting my team playing the right way, and feeling connected and feeling good about how we’re playing,” Spoelstra said.
Injury report
Guard Terry Rozier missed his third consecutive game with the neck spasms that first became an issue in Sunday night’s road loss to the Indiana Pacers.
In addition, the Heat previously announced that Robinson (back) and Josh Richardson (season-ending shoulder surgery) were out.
The Heat also listed injuries for Tyler Herro (foot), Nikola Jovic (ankle) and Kevin Love (ankle), with all three cleared to play Friday.
Winners are
The Heat on Friday announced three Broward County winners of its “How Low Can You Go?” greening initiative. The challenge lasted for three months and schools reduced their kilowatt consumption by a total of 666,980 kilowatt hours from November to March.
First place in Energy & Water Reduction went to Driftwood Middle School, with second place to Park Springs Elementary and third place to Coconut Creek Elementary.
Each of the schools will receive a banner during a pregame on-court recognition ceremony at Sunday’s game against the Raptors.