Among Erik Spoelstra’s favorites when discussing his Miami Heat coaching goals is the always-popular “getting to our identity.”
In Monday night’s 110-100 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Heat got back to their lineup identity, for just the 13th time this season opening with their preferred starting five of Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry.
But even then, while whole, it wasn’t a unit wholly healthy, with Martin limited to only his opening stints at the start of each half, as he works back from the quadriceps strain that had him out the previous two games.
“I’m still trying to work myself back into it,” Martin said, with the Heat shifting their attention to Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the fourth stop on the five-game trip that concludes Friday night against the Phoenix Suns. “Obviously I didn’t fully feel like my complete self.
“So I’m trying to work myself back into it a little bit, trying to get my footing and get my rhythm back.”
Martin wound up going 14:04 against the Clippers, the first 6:16 of the first half and then the opening 7:48 of the second half, closing with two points and three rebounds.
“It was OK. It was all right,” he said of his abbreviated return. “It was kind of like I expected it to be, but a little slow, a little step behind, a little delay.
“But overall, I think it’ll be better game to game. I’ve still got work to do.”
With the victory, the Heat improved to 6-7 when opening with their primary lineup. But that record also is deceiving, with the Heat outscoring opponents by 8.1 points per 100 possessions when those five are on the court.
To put the Heat’s lineup roulette into perspective, consider that the Heat have not gone consecutive games with the same starting lineup since Dec. 10-12, changing the first five each of the past 11 games due to injuries and absences. Should Martin not experience setbacks, that run of change could end Wednesday.
“It was great,” Herro said of resetting with the preferred starting lineup, while also stressing, “at this point of the season, it’s about getting wins with whoever’s out there.”
Half full
Even with the Heat blowing 21-point first-half and 18-point halftime leads, Spoelstra said what mattered most Monday was maintaining the resolve to make it eight victories in the team’s last 11 games.
“I know I’ve said this before, but if you have a 20-point lead in the first half, you can’t think that that’s just going to play out all the way through,” he said.
“It was a whole lot better having a cushion, then it being like a six-point game and then them taking a 15-point lead.”
He then referenced a conversation with Heat President Pat Riley.
“We’ve been developing some resilience, some collective toughness on the road to be able to withstand a lot of different runs,” Spoelstra said. “As Pat always called it, there’s these five or six skirmishes during the course of the game. You can’t expect that one of the skirmishes is going to get you a win. You have to try to win as many of those skirmishes as you can. So we were able to rally after that.”
Thoughts, prayers
Heat players watched the video of the collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin before taking the court Monday night, with Spoelstra then opening his postgame comments with, “Our thoughts and prayers are there for Damar Hamlin, and we’re sending as much positive energy as we possibly can.”
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