Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are grateful for their extended break between last Friday’s series-sealing victory over the Knicks and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Miami got to take Saturday and Sunday off before beginning its prep Monday, according to Chiang, who notes that Butler has an ankle sprain that kept him out of the Heat’s Game 2 loss to New York while Adebayo has been dealing with a left hamstring strain and left shoulder discomfort.
“When you want to win that bad, I feel like you’ll do anything,” Adebayo said. “You’ll put your body through a lot for wins and a series win.”
The Heat, who as the East’s eighth seed have been underdogs in both of their playoff rounds thus far, will face off against the winner of today’s Game 7 semifinals matchup between the Celtics and 76ers.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra believes that the team’s improbable 2023 postseason run can be seen as a teachable moment for the future, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “These are the kinds of lessons that hopefully that we impart on our children, that you can develop perseverance and grit when things are tough and when people are criticizing you,” Spoelstra said. A year removed from being the East’s top seed, the Heat started off with a 12-15 record before eventually finishing at 44-38. Even still, Miami barely snuck into the playoffs thanks to a fourth quarter play-in game rally. Now, the Heat find themselves just four wins away from a return to the NBA Finals. “I’ve said many times about our regular season, there was nothing easy about it,” Spoelstra said. “But the guys came in with a spirit every single day to try to get better and not make excuses for everything. “We were well aware of all the injuries and moving parts and changing lineups. I think we got better in a lot of areas, and finding different solutions. But we had to do a lot of things the hard way.”
- Although the Heat are returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four seasons, the club’s circuitous route back has resonated in a new way, given Miami’s perennial underdog status this year, Chiang notes in a separate piece. “It’s a crazy story being written,” Adebayo said. “Through all the ups and downs of this season, a lot of people counting us out and saying we weren’t even going to make it past the first round and now we’re in the Eastern Conference finals. It just shows the determination and the will that this team has.”
- As the Heat wait to discover the identity of their opponent in the next round, one rival scout is convinced that Miami should hope to face the Sixers instead of the deeper, more consistent Celtics, Winderman writer in another Sun Sentinel article. “[MVP Philadelphia center Joel Embiid] is a given,” the scout said. “How is Bam going to do against him? As well as anybody. He’s going to get his 29. But [James] Harden is defensible. Miami’s got a bunch of guys who can guard him. And they’re too dependent on him. And then the rest, [Tyrese] Maxey is great. But you’re seeing what’s happening with Tobias Harris. When it counts, he’s a no-show.”
If Miami gets Boston then again I can see them out working, out smarting and beating Boston.
Jimmy on Jaylen and Bam on Tatum maybe.
Then force Smart White and Horford to make shots. Brogdan vs Lowry would be interesting off the bench
Ultimately Boston would have the better depth and on paper should win but I could see Miami beating them.
Against the Sixers, Bam matches up with Embiid and I think that’s a difficult task for him without the pure size. Jimmy takes Harden but then they’d have to live with Cody Martin on Tobias Harris, and Gabe Vincent on Tyrese Maxey for example, I don’t see that being favourable at all.
Ofcourse down the other end we would struggle to guard Jimmy but because we know he’s not going to shoot the 3 much, I’d put PJ Tucker on him and you have Embiid in the paint for cover. Aside from that I think Philly then matches up very well. Butler would get up against his former team but I would think the Sixers win in 6 here
Clear fav in the east vs anybody
Hahaha.
Oh yeah, obviously, Miami is a clear favorite over Boston, we all know that.
Where are all the bubble haters? This years conference finals look shockingly similar do they not??
Yea.. you can fire Doc right after the game during the press conference and trade Joel, Tobias, S&T Harden, pretty much the most pathetic basketball quarter I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve watched better girls JV middle school basketball than what the Sixers just put out there.
This thing is d-o-n-e. Joel I supported you for MVP but you might as well hand deliver that to Jokic.
I would honestly clear the bench start the 4th with Reed Niang, McDaniels, Furkan, and Shake.
I wonder if the fools that tried to challenge me when I said Miami going to the ECF gonna speak up?
Yeah, when I asked you to bet you disappeared. So you trolled and got lucky. Congratulations? Lol
Wrong. I told you to give me your Venmo so I could request the money. Where’s my money?
First name to go in Philly is Morey. He’s done absolutely feckall to surround one of the best players in the game save make a trade you or I could have made and draft Maxey (give that one to the scouts). This team has 3 playable plauers and that’s it. They may be good enough to do it versus most teams, but not Boston.
Such quick judges in here. Blah blah blah blah blah. It’s like this is everyone’s first year watching basketball