DALLAS — And they still don’t know it.
For everything the Miami Heat has accomplished with wins in 11 of their last 14there is an awareness that the mix that contributed to the success will almost assuredly be remixed by the time the playoffs roll around.
Lately, he’s been playing in the absence of Tyler Herro and Kevin Love. Before that, Terry Rozier was sidelined. And even today, there is a waiting game when it comes to finding potential candidates. newcomers Delon Wright and Patty Mills.
So instead of elevating the graphics with a bullet, it’s instead with an asterisk.
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” forward Caleb Martin said of the Heat having real self-esteem. “I just think we’re moving in the right direction. There are still a lot of things we need to clean up.
“And playing with different lineups as well, we don’t have everyone back yet. So there will still be things to understand.
If recent victories against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Utah Jazz and, Tuesday night, against the Detroit Pistons, have allowed a rise in the standings, a better reading could be provided during the next two games, a consecutive road set on Thursday. and Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Martin said, “and I think we’re starting to kind of find a foundation for ourselves, understanding that playing the way we’re playing right now, for the most part It’s just a credit to the defensive end. So I think we’re just focusing on that part of our game.”
Center Bam Adebayo said the idea that the Heat were just recently starting to build toward something better didn’t take into account the difficulties encountered along the way, including the seven-game losing streak just before that surge.
“I feel like we’ve been like this since the start of the season. That’s just not the case now,” he said. “We really prepared, we prepared, went through some ups and downs with the season, so when we get into back-to-backs like this, we know how to take it down.
“I feel like it’s us.” It is our identity. We stop and run. It doesn’t matter who is in the lineup. We had 31 different starting lineups. So it doesn’t matter. It’s the next man.
Over the past few games, the Heat have scored wins with a variety of defensive adjustments, the types of adjustments that are essential in the playoffs, with Adebayo, Martin, Jimmy Butler and Haywood Highsmith showcasing their versatility in that regard.
“I think we have so many pieces that can adjust on the fly,” Martin said. “But, at the end of the day, it helps Bam become the anchor of our defense and Bam allows us to do all of that. And obviously having guys like Jimmy, H, myself, all the way down the line, we can be versatile to do those kinds of things.
“But if we don’t have a great player like Bam who can do what he does, it would be very difficult for us to do all of this. He is one of the main reasons why we are able to do this. J I love that we can throw so many different looks, especially in the fourth.
While close finishes against the Jazz and Pistons may be considered too close for comfort for some, for coach Erik Spoelstra, it’s these types of moments that set the stage for the playoffs.
“If you always guarantee that we will get victory, I want as much as possible,” he said. “I like the experiences of our team being able to have a situational experience of the fourth quarter with the context of the time, the score, the fouls, the pressure, all that. Where is the ball going? How do we defend different situations?
“And I think there’s enough institutional knowledge about what we’re trying to do.”
Against the Mavericks and Thunder, a fight to the finish could once again be the only path to victory.
“These next 21 games, there’s probably going to be a lot of them,” Spoelstra said. “That’s how it’s happening right now. Everyone is fighting for a playoff spot.
So nothing for the Heat because they’re too close for comfort.
“Since I’ve been here,” guard Duncan Robinson said, “we haven’t missed a close game. We are therefore used to going down in the final straight. We have a handful of good finishers, starting obviously with Jimmy. We know how to play down the stretch, where the ball needs to go.
