Miami Heat with atypical path to Eastern Conference finals
MIAMI – How do you define the Miami Heat’s 2022-23 season? As a life lesson, according to coach Erik Spoelstra.
“These,” Spoelstra said as Friday turned to Saturday, “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.”
The reference was to overcoming adversity, pushing back from the depths, maintaining composure amid chaos.
Because from a 12-15 record a month into the season, a stretch of six losses in seven games that ran into March, a fourth-quarter deficit in the last-chance play-in game against the Chicago Bulls that otherwise would have ended the season on April 14 there now is a berth in the Eastern Conference finals for the third time in four years.
“I’ve said many times about our regular season, there was nothing easy about it,” Spoelstra said, his team now with four days to exhale before Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. start to the East finals in either Philadelphia or Boston. “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.”
The toughest moment, Spoelstra said, also was the most inspiring moment.
That moment came in the wake of the 116-105 April 11 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center in the opening round of the play-in tournament, the loss that sent the Heat into that all-or-nothing game against the Bulls four days later.
That’s when desperation turned into perspiration – and rejuvenation.
“I knew how badly as soon as I walked into the film session the next day,” Spoelstra said. “I knew how badly our team wanted to keep this thing going. I remember just walking away from that meeting and telling my staff, with the look in their eyes and everything about that meeting, ‘We got a chance.’ I know a lot that I don’t know, but I know when a team wants to keep a season going. And they wanted to keep the season going.
“And that’s a spirit that you always hope you can cultivate in your team and it doesn’t always happen and that’s why you’re just grateful for this opportunity to represent the Eastern Conference in Eastern Conference finals.”
Center Bam Adebayo said the loss to the Hawks was both humbling and galvanizing.
“I feel like we thought we were going to come in and just win,” he said of that Tuesday night in April when the Heat fell behind by as many as 24 points. “And knowing that other people are desperate enough to try and get to the playoffs, just like us, it put us in that position. The next game, we had to be better and we had to figure out how we were going to get to the playoffs.”
It proved to be a launch point.
Friday’s 96-92 victory over the visiting New York Knicks not only lifted the Heat to the East finals for the third time in four years, but also made the Heat the first team to advance to such heights as a No. 8 seed during a standard 82-game season. The only other No. 8 seed to make a conference finals was the 1998-99 Knicks, during a lockout-shortened schedule.
“We don’t take any of this for granted,” Spoelstra said. “It is hard to win in this league. It’s hard to win in the playoffs. And it is really freaking hard to get to the Eastern Conference finals.
“We’ve had our normal big, audacious goals for this season. But when you get to one step like this, you just have great gratitude because there are a lot of other teams that would love to be in this position.”
So 4-1 to oust the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Then 4-2 against the No. 5 Knicks in the second round.
“It means that we’re one step closer to our goal, which we already knew that we were capable of from the jump, from the beginning of the season,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “We’ve got eight more to get.”
Unexpected, but now reality, even with the Heat losing starting guard Tyler in the first half of the first game of the first round with a broken hand, and then losing guard Victor Oladipo to a knee injury in the third game of that opening round.
“It’s a crazy story being written,” Adebayo said. “Through all the ups and downs of this season, a lot of people counted us out, saying we weren’t even going to make it past the first round. Now we’re in the Eastern Conference finals. It just shows the determination and the will that this team has.”
Or, as Spoelstra said, “We’re not your normal eight seed.”
