From starters to sitters
Spoelstra speaks on Nunn, Leonard sitting out Game 1
Apparently there is a new Spoism.
“The goal is role right now.”
And, with that, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra moved past questions Wednesday about two former starters now being on the outside of his team’s rotation.
“Everybody’s all in on that, the purpose of what we’re trying to get accomplished here,” Spoelstra said in advance of Thursday’s 1 p.m. Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. “We’ll need everybody.”
While Meyers Leonard, the team’s starting center for the first three months of the season, fell out of the rotation once the regular season resumed in the NBA’s Disney World quarantine setting, rookie guard Kendrick Nunn was benched for the first time in the Heat’s 113-101 series-opening victory Tuesday over the Pacers at the Wide World of Sports complex. It also was the first time since the preseason that Nunn was active and not in the starting lineup.
“It’s something that we talked about as a team. And it’s Game 1,” Spoelstra said after Wednesday’s practice. “Obviously, Kendrick is a major part of our team. We will need to get into our depth at some point.
“So while I make these decisions what we feel is best at that particular time, you also want to do it with a great deal of empathy. And they’re not easy decisions, bigger than the and you just have to stay ready, which K-Nunn is mentally tough enough to understand that.”
Spoelstra added, “You have to be ready for anything in the playoffs.”
As for Leonard, Spoelstra reflected on the outside-shooting big man’s time with the Portland Trail Blazers, “He’s been through it before, so he gets the big picture.”
Bam’s boosts
Spoelstra’s tone grew irritated when asked about recent games when center Bam Adebayo has emerged from uneven starts to produce strong finishes, including Wednesday’s victory over the Pacers, which he closed with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
“He’s a winning player,” Spoelstra said. “And, look, nobody was paying attention three years ago to how Bam was playing. Now everybody has an opinion on whether he needs to shoot it, where he needs to shoot it, how aggressive he needs to be. He’s doing the right things for our team. That’s the only thing that matters.
“Everybody else can just stick it up you know where. More people have opinions on how he needs to play, but he just continues to play how we need him to play — as one of our All-Stars and playoff
a winning player.”
Adebayo was impressed by his coach’s tone.
“He’s worried about the way I help this team win,” he said. “And everybody’s got opinions on the way I help this team win. So, you know, in October, didn’t anybody know who I was, and now like everybody’s got all these opinions saying how I should do things, when I should do it, how I should do it.
“But you didn’t have an opinion or didn’t care about me when we were in October going into preseason. So I respect him totally for it. And he understands. He knows where we came from.
I’m starting to flourish now. He just wants me to impact winning and help this team. So other people got opinions, but they didn’t have opinions in October.”
Oladipo likely
Pacers coach Nate McMillan said guard Victor Oladipo went through the team’s Wednesday walkthrough. Oladipo left Game 1 in the first quarter after being inadvertently poked in the eye by the Heat’s Jae Crowder.
“We’ll make a decision on him tomorrow,” McMillan said,
Said Oladipo, “I couldn’t open my eye, couldn’t see for a little bit … a few hours later my eye calmed down.” Oladipo said he was feeling better, “so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”