NBA Playoffs challenge for Heat players
Some find them hard to watch after crushing end to season.
MIAMI — Some Miami players are having a rough time watching the first round of the NBA Playoffs — if they’re watching at all — and after the way their season ended, can you blame them?
Entering the last day of the regular season, the Heat needed a victory and a loss from either the Chicago Bulls or Indiana Pacers. They did their part, but both the Bulls and Pacers won their games, keeping the Heat out and forcing players to clean out their lockers at AmericanAirlines Arena on Monday.
Some players still can’t bear to turn the playoffs on, while others found themselves watching the games over the weekend.
“I don’t even turn on my TV,” forward James Johnson said.
“I’m still sick. I can’t believe you asked that. You know we felt like it ended too short. But that feeling is good — that feeling is good. Sometimes that can be the biggest coach, and I think for me this summer I don’t ever want that feeling again. So I’m going to work so I can never feel that again.”
After an abysmal start to the season, the Heat went on a tear in the second half, finishing the season with a 30-11 record in that half. But Miami finished just short.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said it would be “lazy” to look at or pick out any particular games that his team could have won, which would have assured them a spot in the playoffs. Instead, he wants to look at the smaller things that happened throughout the year.
“I think you have to be able to enjoy and even celebrate mini-victories along the way and enjoy seasons even if they don’t necessarily end in a win,” he said. “In two weeks, eight teams will be sitting there like us. Then (another) four teams. Only one team finishes a season with a win. Everybody else at some point is disappointed with that final loss.”
Adding to the pain is the Heat’s belief that it could have done damage in the postseason. The last time the team played the topseeded Boston Celtics, it went on the road and lost by only four points.
“We worked so hard and this group is so close,” point guard Goran Dragic said. “We wanted to make some noise in the playoffs.”
Forward Willie Reed said he was starting to feel better, but then he tuned in Sunday night.
“I was kind of OK until I turned on the playoffs and watched it a little bit,” he said. “Seeing Chicago win that game in Boston, I feel like we had a good chance to do something special, as well.
“I’m happy for the guys that got the opportunity to make the playoffs because it’s a special opportunity. Just wish it could’ve been us.”
Guard Tyler Johnson watched this weekend, too, though he did not have as hard of a time.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I said I wasn’t going to watch any of the games. I ended up watching almost all of them. It was just good to see the guys again. It wasn’t emotional in the sense of like, ‘Aw man, we should still be there.’ It’s like, ‘How do we get there?’ ”