Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 102-91 NBA play-in victory over the Chicago Bulls:
– This is what should have happened Tuesday night.
– Take care of business and move on.
– But never easy for the Heat this season.
– So even this still was harrowing.
– And then some.
– And, so, instead of No. 2 Boston in the first round and the resumption of a rivalry very much fresh in the Celtics’ mind, the No. 1 Bucks, whose last playoff memory of the Heat was wiping them off the court in a 2021 first-round sweep.
– And, so, the question becomes whether the Heat can win.
– Not the series.
– But a game.
– Because the level of play will have to be significantly higher than what the Heat showed Tuesday against the Hawks or even Friday against the Bulls.
– Basically, the Heat would have to pitch a perfect game against the Bucks, even with Khris Middleton somewhat ailing.
– Especially with Kyle Lowry again now dealing with knee pain.
– But, hey, at least a chance to reconnect with old friends Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder.
– So at least there’s that.
– Leaving Dwyane Wade’s 2019 finale season the last time the Heat missed the playoffs.
– As for the draft, now either the No. 18, No. 19 or No. 20 pick, to be determined in a blind draw with the Clippers and Warriors.
– Had the Heat lost Friday, they would have been seeded No. 14 in the lottery.
– With only a one-half-of-one-percent chance of the No. 1 overall selection and a 2.40% chance of moving up to a top-four pick, in the random-but-weighted process.
– In the end, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not veer from the primary lineup he utilized at the end of the season and the play-in opener.
– That was made possible with Gabe Vincent able to push through his hip pointer.
– So it again was Bam Adebayo, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Vincent as the Heat’s first five.
– The only inactive Heat player was Nikola Jovic, who is dealing with back spasms.
– With Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson ineligible for the postseason on their two-way contracts.
– The Bulls opened with Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Patrick Beverley.
– Spoelstra, when asked pregame about possibly adjusting his lineup or rotation in such a one-game, winner-take-all scenario, said, “I think the most important thing, you have to rely on who you are, what your habits are and your identity.”
– He added, “And ultimately it comes down to whose will, whose identity, who can impact the game more consistently than the other team. And then another way of saying that is who gets who to blink first.”
– To that end, Spoelstra said going in, “If we can force their hand on some things, that’s what we’re going to do.”
– And, so, the wheel of power forwards again landed on Strus as starter, after Caleb Martin and then Kevin Love previously had handled that role.
– “A lot of different factors,” Spoelstra said of what goes into such a decision. “Sometimes it’s just where you are at a particular time during the season”
– But he added of Friday, “Now, it’s kind of simple, whatever it takes to get one game. And it’s not about necessarily a normal rotation. It’s all hands on deck.”
– Lowry played as the Heat’s first reserve.
– Caleb Martin followed.
– Kevin Love made it eight deep.
– Bulls coach Billy Donovan was pregame Friday for his thoughts on Jimmy Butler.
– “I would say watching him, there’s three things to me that really stand out,” Donovan said. “He’s really, really smart; he’s got an incredibly high basketball IQ. Then the other part of it is he’s a great passer and facilitator and knows how to manipulate the defense, especially when he’s in isolations. And then he’s got a great ability to draw fouls; he gets there a lot. He does it in a lot of different ways. And when you take those things, and maybe the thing that stands out the most is he’s a great competitor. So he can put his fingerprints all over a game, in a lot of different ways.”
– Donovan added, “And, like I said, it’s the IQ, it’s the passing, it’s the manipulation of defenses, getting fouled. And then a guy, he’ll do a lot of different things on both ends of the floor to dictate outcomes of games. He takes on big defensive assignments. He’ll offensive rebound. He’s put his body in play. He’s really physical. He’ll anticipate and get into passing lanes. He’s just really smart.”
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