Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Van Gundy changes his tune on Heat
Unimpressed at start of playoffs, he now sees pathway to NBA Finals
BOSTON — When Stan Van Gundy arrived at Kaseya Center for Miami’s April 14 play-in game against the Chicago Bulls, he was largely unimpressed with the team’s roster, with the Heat that night one loss from postseason elimination after a seventh-place finish and opening play-in loss to the middling Atlanta Hawks.
“I didn’t think that was a contending roster,” he said.
Now, as the former Heat coach prepares to work as analyst for TNT’s Wednesday coverage of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at TD Garden, he stands duly impressed.
“It’s unbelievable,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel of the Heat making it to this best-ofseven series against the Boston Celtics, one of four NBA teams still standing.
And yet, he said, perhaps he should have had a clue in light of a late-season, game-production interview with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, his former Heat assistant.
“I’ll say this, we didn’t have a lot of Heat games,” Van Gundy said of his TNT assignments, “but I had a couple, and we had that one in Philadelphia right near the end of the year, where they blew Philly out. I remember talking to Spo before the game and I think I would have a decent feel if he was totally BS’ing. And I’d say that he has always had, honestly, through the whole regular season, I think he honestly believed in this team, thought they were doing the right things, couldn’t explain the shooting problems, but still believed that no one had lost confidence and they would come around.”
As they have, entering the playoffs as a No. 8 seed and then knocking off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in the first round and the No. 5 New York Knicks 4-2 in the second.
“This year, the regular season was more what I would expect from the names on the roster,” Van Gundy said of the Heat’s 44-38
finish. “But now what they’re doing, the thing is it’s not just that they’ve been able to win two series. They haven’t had any trouble. They’re rolling through these series.”
Of course, beating a Bucks team lacking Giannis Antetokounmpo for 2 of the five games is one thing, as is pushing past the Knicks’ mismatched roster. But the Celtics are a proven, healthy, wellrounded team, upgraded from the roster that defeated the Heat 4-3 in last season’s East finals.
So now what?
Van Gundy offered four components that could give the Heat the opportunity to pull off yet another upset.
“I think their defense is legit. And a step further on that, I think [center Bam] Adebayo is a perfect guy defensively against a team like Boston, because Erik can do pretty much whatever he wants defensively. Bam can switch out on those pick-and-rolls and legitimately guard guys. And there’s really no low-post threat there for Boston to exploit their guards inside. So I think the Heat can defend them as well as anyone can defend Boston. So I would start with their defense.”
“Then I would just point to the volatility of 3-point shooting both ways. We know Boston’s a great 3-point shooting team. But I think Miami will get out and pressure them some, and make it a little tougher. Miami, even in the postseason, has not shot the ball great. But every one of those guys is capable of having big nights. We had the play-in game with Chicago and [Max] Strus hit seven. And Duncan Robinson, who has an awful year, hits five in two of these playoff games. The Heat are capable of having four games where they’re capable of lighting it up. And Boston’s capable of having four games where the ball’s not going in the basket. And Miami’s not going to give you easy stuff to make up for it. The best shooting teams, as we saw with the Warriors, can just go cold. So I think they’ve got a great opportunity there.”
“And then I think [Jimmy] Butler is a legit closer. He can step up in the biggest games. And even with guys like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown out there, he can be the best player out there on the floor.”
“My last factor is Erik. Erik has seen it all, done it all, and he’s a problem solver as a series goes on. He’s focused on solutions. He’s not going to get wrapped up in the problem itself. He’ll figure out a way to do it. And I think his guys believe in him, too.”
To Van Gundy, there then is a Heat wild card.
“To me, offensively who has to have a really good series is Adebayo,” he said. “Because the way they guard him, they’re not going to let him be a creator. If you watch the way they guard him, they’re totally one-on-one on him. They don’t even help. They’re going to stay home, not letting him kick out for shots.
“He’s going to have to go and score. And so if he can’t average 20, maybe a little bit more, in this series, then it’s going to be tough. Look, it’s going to be tough, anyway.”