Pair of back-to-back games against Charlotte, Chicago remind Heat of playoff scenarios
MIAMI — The Heat will be seeing a lot of the same faces this week.
Miami (12-10) plays back-to-back games against Charlotte (7-13) on the road on Monday and at home Wednesday before hosting Chicago (9-14) in back-to-back games on Thursday and Saturday.
Although both teams they face this week have sub-.500 records, beating teams twice in three days is a difficult task, reminiscent of the Heat’s playoff duels against top opponents.
“It’s a tough league regardless of who you’re playing back to back,” forward Caleb Martin said. “Regardless of it (being) the same team, they’re going to have different schemes. It’s almost like a small version of like a playoff; you play the same teams a couple of times, they’re going to have different schemes after the first night, regardless of how it goes. We’ve just got to be ready for whatever adjustments.”
The Heat have plenty of experience facing the same opponent repeatedly in playoff situations, but coach Erik Spoelstra said when the playoffs come around, they are prepared to do that. Facing the same team twice in three days when you are used to seeing different opponents in the grind of the regular season is a different kind of difficult.
“That’s probably a regular-season challenge,” Spoelstra said. “I think when you get your mindset ready for the playoffs, that’s what you know is going to happen. In the regular season, it’s a little bit different. SO that’s the challenge for this week. I think it’s very important for us to go through that. We haven’t been able to handle it the way we wanted to so far in this early season. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We want to start with a good game (Monday).”
Miami has split its last four games since being eliminated from the NBA In-Season Tournament on Nov. 28. The Heat split a pair of high-scoring affairs against Indiana before beating Toronto on the road and falling to Cleveland at home.
The Heat have been coping with bad injury luck lately, making the four-game week even tougher. Center Bam Adebayo, forward Haywood Highsmith and guard Tyler Herro remain out with injuries, though Adebayo will be traveling with the Heat to Charlotte. Miami also sent Nikola Jovic and R.J. Hampton to the G League.
“We’ve played good enough basketball to have opportunities to win a few more games,” Spoelstra said. “We have guys out. That’s just what the deal is. We can’t make excuses for it or expect anybody to play you differently. I think we’ve done enough to win some more games. Our offense definitely, even with guys out, has been much better. And defensively, we were on the right track before — the last game was actually some good things — but the three games before that, we took a step back. Just need to put it together regardless of who’s in or who’s out. We’re not making excuses.”
Despite playing shorthanded, veteran forward Kevin Love said the Heat have players available who can get them over the hump until their key starters return to the lineup.
“A lot of teams talk about a sense of urgency, not getting complacent,” Love said. “We’re about 20 games in, so a fourth of a way through. Obviously, we need to get those guys back. They add so much to our team and I think our depth is our strength. But at the same time, we have enough to win, especially going against Miami or 14 and a half seasons, you’ve always seen when they have guys out, they still find a way to win. And I say ‘we’ now; we find a way to win.
“We have guys out, we have guys that are banged out, guys who are in and out of the lineups. It’s an opportunity-type league. Everybody’s always a play away from playing significant minutes or getting an opportunity. I think our guys are certainly hungry for that. We all celebrate each other, we all support each other, but we certainly need to find that sense of urgency.