Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 128-117 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks:
– Yes, this one mattered for the Heat, as they went for a fourth consecutive victory.
– With plenty at stake in a tight playoff race in the middle of the Eastern Conference.
– So it stung.
– Stung plenty, with the late missed free throws and inability to stop the Bucks at closing time.
– But the initial game discussion practically was preempted by the fashion police.
– Adding at least a distraction for Heat from what followed.
– Prior to the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra addressed Pat Riley’s comments about Riley’s preference for coaches returning to wearing suits, comments the Heat president and former Lakers coach made Sunday at the unveiling of his statue in front of the Lakers’ arena.
– “I can see the arguments both ways,” Spoelstra said. “I think as long as we look professional and look different than the players, I think that’s great. I think it’s becoming a little bit different anyways in corporate America. But then I also see Pat’s point of view. When I see the footage of him from the Lakers to the Knicks to the Heat, he did look sharp.”
– Spoelstra added, “But he wore suits differently than us – us mortals. We just didn’t look the same, as the way he looked. That was an iconic Armani look. In fact, he gave me a few suits back when I was an assistant coach. But I looked like the lead singer for the Talking Heads. Is that who that was? David Byrne. Yeah, that’s who I looked like. I didn’t realize I had to tailor the suits.”
– Before those comments, Spoelstra spoke of the last time he found a suit being mandatory.
– “Pat and I debate about this all the time,” Spoelstra said. “We went to the Hall of Fame this year for Micky Arison and so I had to wear back-to-back nights of suits, and I swear that was all Pat was talking about.”
– That came this past summer, for events in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
– “He’s like, ‘See, you look great, you look presentable,’ ” Spoelstra said. “And I said, ‘Well, I had to go get these just for this weekend, and I don’t plan on wearing them again until the next Hall of Fame event we get to go to.’ ”
– The Heat are not positioned for a Hall inductee this summer.
– From that discussion, the game followed, with Spoelstra working in the now-customary casual wear.
– With nothing casual about this fight to the finish.
– With Davion Mitchell back from the illness that had him out Saturday against the Grizzlies, the Heat returned to a starting lineup of Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson, Norman Powell and Mitchell.
– That lineup entered at 5-2.
– Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware again entered together in the first Heat substitution.
– Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis then followed together in the next Heat substitution.
– And, again, Myron Gardner made it 10 deep.
– Playing ahead of Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio.
– Smith then got second-half minutes ahead of Jakucionis.
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– Spoelstra said at the morning shootaround he has been pleased with his team’s recent ball movement.
– “Our guys have buy-in because they can see the possibilities for their offense,” he said. “We’re scoring more. It’s happening with less effort.”
– He added that by creating ample possessions, there are ample opportunities.
– “We have a lot of possessions in the course of the game. There doesn’t need to be stress,” he said. “Just play the right way. Everybody will get their opportunities.”
– All of which has made mastering the offense a key.
– “We know at this point of the season which lineup, where the ball needs to be going more often than not,” he said. “But it can happen organically, which is much more difficult to defend.”
– Herro said he is all-in in that regard.
– “Like we said at the beginning of the year, every night can be a different night, guys different nights,” he said. “We all are happy to see other guys succeed and ultimately it’s about winning.”
– Spoelstra also spoke at the morning shootaround about a healthy uptick in the team’s rebounding.
– “The last month to possibly six weeks, the intention has been much better on both sides of the court,” he said of the board work. “It’s probably one of our top three leading factors in our success. And it’s not just on one side of the court.”
– Herro agreed.
– ” I think what moves the needle the most for us is guys crashing the offensive glass and creating more possessions for ourselves,” he said. “So if we do miss a shot, it’s not the end of the world, right? We’re crashing four or five guys in order for us to create more possessions.”