Coup’s Takeaways: Oladipo And Strus Shine On Kyle Lowry Night

1. Fitting that on Kyle Lowry’s (16 points on eight shots, 10 assists) return to Toronto – the Raptors honored him with a video and a center-court spotlight during starting lineup introductions as Lowry brought his two sons with him to share the moment – we got a nice little preview of postseason basketball. Then again, every HEAT-Raptors game ends up feeling like a playoff game, doesn’t it?

For most of the night, this was a rock fight. Neither team could generate much of anything in the half-court with the only semblance of easy offense coming off turnovers. For a time, it looked like things were going to slowly slip away for the visitors. Then every three they put up started to fall, so they just kept putting them up. Huge nights for Max Strus and Victor Oladipo from the perimeter (13-of-18 from three and 44 points combined) carried the evening as we got something of a glimpse of how the HEAT are going to have to find success in April and May. The half-court offense – 101.3 tonight after a rough start thanks to the shooting – isn’t always going to look pretty, but they have plenty of ways to generate threes and as long as those are falling and they’re being aggressive off defensive stops, the offense is going to have enough to keep them in the game. And when the shooting is *this* good, more often than not they’re going to win (which they do, as they’re up to 27-2 when shooting at least 40 percent).

2. Felt a little bit like December, didn’t it? Missing Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Dewayne Dedmon and Gabe Vincent, coach Chris Quinn – filling in for Erik Spoelstra, who entered health and safety protocols – had to alter the new rotation set in place last Monday and dig back into Miami’s depth. Just as they did in December, Miami’s depth responded. It was just slightly different depth than before. Strus had a huge third period with 14 points – 23 in the second half – but as a starter he doesn’t really count as depth anymore. Instead, it was Oladipo (6-of-9 from three, tying his career-high, including a deep one down the stretch), who wasn’t even available last time the HEAT were shorthanded, providing relief scores as Miami got back to getting their threes up and in (18-of-38 overall). December might have been the best shooting month in franchise history. This one would’ve fit right in.

This week gave us a pretty good look at what the postseason rotation might well end up being, but this game reminded us that when you have so many usable players up and down the roster, no rotation is set in stone.

3. It’s been an interesting road trip with regards to the types and styles of defenses the HEAT have faced. Against Boston, Miami had one of its lowest Shot Quality games of the season as they took just 11 shots at the rim and had to ride tough jumpers down the stretch for a win. Against Toronto, Miami took 16 shots at the rim with the vast majority of those coming in transition of Raptors turnovers. Those two defenses aren’t exactly apples to apples, but they each have plenty of strong, athletic, switchable defenders who can hold up on the ball. Miami was missing some important bodies tonight, but in both games they had trouble breaking down defenders and getting deep into the paint. But sandwiched in between those games was Chicago, with a slower center that they don’t want to switch and the HEAT got pretty much every single thing they wanted. Every shot. Every matchup.  All three teams are theoretically still in play for a postseason meeting, and this week only highlights how much matchups can make a series.  

-Next Up For Miami: Vs Hornets – Tuesday – April 5, 7:30 PM ET in Miami, FL Watch It Live On NBA League Pass