For only the second time since 2010, there will be neither the Warriors nor the Heat in the NBA finals. If Golden State was not even invited to the playoffs this season, Miami was more of an figure than anything else, narrowly avoiding the sweep against the Celtics (4-1). Wednesday evening in Boston, the Florida team was greatly outclassed (118-84), to signify the end of a complicated season, a year after having reached the NBA final. But there is no question of looking for factors external to this elimination, however legitimate they may be.
On Wednesday, Erik Spoelstra once again had to cope without his leader Jimmy Butler, injured during the play-in, and Terry Rozier, both absent during the entire series, or even Jaime Jaquez Jr. ” We are not going to put this result down to injuries » swept the Heat coach, as handsome a player as he is lucid in a press conference. “ Let's not take anything away from the Celtics, they are the best basketball team all season. »
37 different starting fives this season
Galvanized by the idea of taking revenge on the team that dominated them in the conference final last season, Boston showed itself ruthless from the start of the match. “ You could feel that they wanted to end it right away, starting tonight. They probably had reason to be motivated against us. »
The logic may have been respected and the Heat were aware of it, Kevin Love did not hide that the way was “ obviously super painful“. Trailing by 32 points even before the last quarter, Miami “ learned many lessons » analyzed Bam Adebayo. “ I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot to take away from the Celtics' way of defending on me throughout the series » envisaged Tyler Herro, limited to 16.8 points on 38.5% shooting in five games. “ They did a very good job. But in the end, it will make me stronger. »
The 2023 finalist will be able to lick his wounds before the restart, after having had to line up a 37th different starting five on Wednesday at TD Garden. “ We gained a lot in mental toughness with the ups and downs we experienced, learning to win with 50 different teams » exaggerated Bam Adebayo.
Any changes coming this summer?
The summer could also be turbulent as Miami reaches a crossroads in building its roster. Jimmy Butler will be 35 years old when he resumes and alternated between good performances and matches without motivation during the regular season. “If you build a team around two or three players and you don't win the title, then you can start to say to yourself: 'OK, this is not going to work.' warned Pat Riley before the start of the season. The contribution of Terry Rozier, acquired during the season, was minimal due to injuries.
“We will have a lot of time to do the post-mortem of our regular season” assures Erik Spoelstra. “The competition was very tough in both conferences, and two or three victories could make monumental differences. » The Heat may be looking to add shooters to their roster, after losing Max Strus last summer. Against Boston, Miami scored 23 3-pointers in its only victory in Game 2, compared to 21 cumulatively over the next three games.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Tyler Herro | 42 | 33.5 | 44.1 | 39.6 | 85.6 | 0.5 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 20.8 |
| Jimmy Butler | 60 | 34.0 | 49.9 | 41.4 | 85.8 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 20.8 |
| Bam Adebayo | 71 | 34.0 | 52.1 | 35.7 | 75.5 | 2.2 | 8.1 | 10.4 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 19.3 |
| Terry Rozier | 31 | 31.5 | 42.3 | 37.1 | 91.3 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 16.4 |
| Duncan Robinson | 68 | 28.0 | 45.0 | 39.5 | 88.9 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 12.9 |
| Jaime Jaquez, Jr. | 75 | 28.2 | 48.9 | 32.2 | 81.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 11.9 |
| Caleb Martin | 64 | 27.4 | 43.1 | 34.9 | 77.8 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Josh Richardson | 43 | 25.6 | 44.4 | 34.7 | 94.4 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 9.9 |
| Kevin Love | 55 | 16.8 | 44.0 | 34.4 | 78.7 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 8.8 |
| Kyle Lowry | 37 | 28.0 | 42.6 | 38.5 | 83.3 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 8.2 |
| Nikola Jovic | 46 | 19.5 | 45.2 | 39.9 | 70.2 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.7 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 66 | 20.7 | 46.5 | 39.6 | 63.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 6.1 |
| Patty Mills | 13 | 16.4 | 33.8 | 20.8 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| Thomas Bryant | 38 | 11.6 | 57.7 | 18.2 | 87.2 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 5.7 |
| Delon Wright | 14 | 20.4 | 39.4 | 36.7 | 81.3 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 5.4 |
| Dru Smith | 9 | 14.5 | 45.5 | 41.2 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.3 |
| Jamal Cain | 26 | 10.0 | 43.0 | 35.5 | 78.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.7 |
| Orlando Robinson | 36 | 8.4 | 50.0 | 53.3 | 76.0 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 |
| Cole Swider | 18 | 4.8 | 39.5 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| Rj Hampton | 8 | 9.5 | 28.6 | 12.5 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| Alondes Williams | 7 | 2.2 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
