MY ACCOUNT
Coming off four straight losses heading into Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra knew something needed to change.
Ultimately, that change would be Markieff Morris and Victor Oladipo falling out of the rotation entirely, playing zero combined minutes.
The Heat looked great with their new line-ups, which featured Max Strus slotting into a starting role, winning each of the first three quarters comfortably on the way to a 123-100 victory.
Speaking to post-game media, Spoelstra made a point of protecting his benched players’ feelings, and stressed that more tinkering would be ahead.
“These are tough decisions, and there are a lot of different things that could work, but we just felt like at this particular time that these moves may clean up some things with the rotation,” he said.
“Those aren’t easy decisions, and I think we all just have to have empathy and grace for some of these changes for the guys that didn’t necessarily play tonight.
“It’s about understanding that we have a roster full of proven, capable guys, and we’re going to need everybody, particularly in this final push and in the playoffs.
“A lot of it will be matchup-based… we’ll just keep an open mind about what we may need to do moving forward.”
Spoelstra went on to say that the difference in this game was about far more than simply benching two solid players.
“This wasn’t a ‘one move’ thing – we were very disappointed about the past four games, and this has been trending, really, even before that, when we were winning,” he said.
“It’s not an indictment on anybody – sometimes these things can be chemistry things, sometimes it’s just the flow of certain guys playing off of each other.
“The ball and body movement was better – less holding [the ball], we’re moving the ball, guys were able to play to their strengths. It was less stagnant for sure.
“We’ve seen what Jimmy [Butler] can do when he has open spaces to be able to be creative, and be able to attack, and be able to make plays. I know he hit three three-pointers tonight – I love that – but he was in a lot of places where he can be successful and effective.
“There were a lot of different layers to [today’s moves] – again, it’s just one game. Our roster is deep, and our roster checks a lot of different boxes, which we feel you need in the playoffs.
“Each series – if we’re fortunate enough to play multiple series – they have totally different needs and complexions, and we feel like versatility and our depth is really one of the greatest strengths of this team.”
Miami regained the Eastern Conference one seed with the result, but it will switch hands once again if they cannot defeat the surging Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
