Observations and different notes of curiosity from Sunday’s 130-117 NBA playoff victory over the Milwaukee Bucks:
– The season began with the Heat touting their depth.
– Then that depth proved illusory.
– Victor Oladipo was benched.
– Duncan Robinson was put into the deep freeze.
– And Dewayne Dedmon was traded.
– Yes, Kevin Love and Cody Zeller had been added on the buyout deadline to bolster the facility rotation.
– And, sure, Love helped, lots, Sunday.
– But the perimeter rotation largely proved skinny.
– Now that turns into an excellent greater downside, with Tyler Herro out with a damaged hand.
– Robinson began Sunday’s second half.
– Oladipo remained in ready.
– To put into perspective what Oladipo and Robinson didn’t count on to be doing Sunday, each of them participated in an aggressive three-on-three scrimmage pregame.
– Answers had been going to be laborious sufficient on this collection.
– Now new ones must be discovered.
– More than simply give Jimmy Butler the ball and get out of the best way.
– So perhaps Kyle Lowry’s time has come?
– We shall see.
– Even towards the Bucks’ peak and size, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra elected to stay along with his smallish 5 first of Bam Adevbayo, Max Strus, Butler, Herro and Gabe Vincent.
– Vincent had been listed as questionable moving into as a result of hip pointer he aggravated throughout the play-in spherical.
– With the beginning, Butler tied Lowry for seventy fifth on the NBA all-time playoff begins checklist. With the looks, he tied Marc Gasol for 74th on the NBA all-time playoff video games checklist.
– Also, with the looks, Butler tied Ray Allen for thirteenth on the Heat all-time playoff video games checklist.
– The Bucks opened with a lineup of Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.
– With Vincent known as for his second foul with 7:53 left within the opening interval, Caleb Martin performed because the Heat’s first reserve.
– Lowry then adopted.
– And then Love.
– For the eight-deep core.
– One that remained intact till Robinson entered for the beginning of the second half.
– It was an unconventional method each methods on the outset.
– The Heat opened with 6-foot-5 Strus on 7-foot-1 Lopez, so 6-9 Adebayo might open defensively towards 6-11 Antetokounmpo.
– On the opposite finish, the Bucks opted to ease the early defensive burden on Antetokounmpo by having him defend 6-3 Vincent, with 6-5 Holiday the preliminary defender on 6-7 Butler. Antetokounmpo had opened as Milwaukee’s major defender towards Butler within the 2021 playoffs.
– The Heat later went greater on the finish of the opening interval, with 6-8 Love taking part in alongside Adebayo.
– Any semblance of a most well-liked rotation was then misplaced, with Vincent, Adebayo, Strus, Martin, Love and Lowry all known as for 2 early fouls.
– With the groups having met in three of the previous 4 postseasons, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer stated there was ample familiarity.
– “I think they know us well,” he stated. “We know them well. I don’t think anybody is surprising anybody today.”
– Spoelstra downplayed the short turnaround from Friday night time’s play-in victory over the Bulls in Miami to Sunday afternoon’s recreation.
– “I don’t know,” he stated. “In many ways, I think this is better. You have to be able to handle a lot of different things in the playoffs. But we understand what Milwaukee has done, we have great respect for them. And we’re just coming off of two really competitive games and we want to get to it.”
– Spoelstra added, “We’re competitors; we want to play. You almost get conditioned to play every 48 hours. And then the head coach and coaching staff can’t get in the way and over inundate everybody in the minds with too much. So this was pretty much simplicity, clarity and competition.”
– So mainly full pace forward.
– “Sometimes you have a week off, you don’t know who you’re playing. So you’re just kind of working out and drilling. Each situation is different,” Spoelstra stated. “This was clarity. We had a prep day [Saturday], walk through today and everybody is just looking forward to tipping this thing off.”
– Spoelstra notes now all the pieces modifications.
– “The playoffs are different than the regular season,” Spoelstra stated. “So even if everybody was healthy, that might not necessarily totally translate to the playoffs.”
– Still, Spoelstra stated there was examine.
– “But yeah, we have to be responsible and go through the film and also from what they did recently in the last few weeks since they’ve started to find a little bit of their health, as well,” Spoelstra stated. “But this will be about competition more than strategy or Xs and Os and all those things.”
– Butler’s second free throw moved him previous Isiah Thomas for fiftieth on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Butler’s fourth help moved him previous Allen Iverson for 74th on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Butler’s second steal moved him forward of Dan Majerle for forty seventh on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Butler’s sixth shot moved him previous Bob McAdoo for 88th on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Butler’s twenty fourth level moved him into sixty fourth place on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Vincent’s second help moved him previous Damon Jones for twentieth on the Heat all-time playoff checklist.
– Herro’s second 3-point try moved him previous Shane Battier for sixth on the Heat all-time playoff checklist.
– Herro’s first blocked shot tied Lamar Odom for twenty third on the Heat all-time playoff checklist.
– Love’s second 3-point try moved him forward of Deron Williams for sixty fourth on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Herro’s 3-pointer tied him with Ray Allen for seventh on the Heat all-time playoff checklist.
– Love’s second 3-pointer moved him previous Clyde Drexler for 53rd on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
– Love’s fourth defensive rebound moved him previous former Heat heart Alonzo Mourning for 86th on the NBA all-time playoff checklist.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com