Why Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has given Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson limited playoff minutes vs. Celtics

These two usual staples in Miami’s rotation haven’t been getting much playing time.

While the Miami Heat look ahead to Game 4 against the Boston Celtics Monday night, part of the preparation is examining the last three games and determining the best course of action. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra explains why it is eye-opening to see how talents Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love have not had enough playing time in the past.

For Robinson, the solution is somewhat straightforward because it is evident that he is not fully recovered from his back ailment, which has been formally diagnosed as “left facet syndrome.” Although he missed a considerable amount of time due to this illness towards the conclusion of the season, he is now healthy enough to play.

In terms of his minutes, he played 15 in Game 1, 17 in Game 2, and just seven in Game 3 as Spoelstra credited the reasoning as “looking for a spark” since the team was down by as much as 29 points at one point.

“I was looking for some kind of spark once we were down 20,” Spoelstra said after the Heat lost to the Celtics in Game 3. “Duncan’s not going to make an excuse for it. I’m not going to make an excuse for him. We have our guys. We have enough to get the job done. And we understand that challenge. And that’s what our competitors love about this series. We know we have to play hard and we also have to play well. But at that point in the second half, we were down 20. I was just looking for a spark.”

“I am available,” Robinson said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help us try to win this next game. Right now, we’re just taking it game by game. So trying to win this next game. It’s definitely been a challenge, for sure. Just trying to wrap my mind around whatever the opportunity looks like, whatever I can do to help us, just doing that.”

Spoelstra explains the lack of playing time for Love in Heat rotation

When it comes to Kevin Love, while he has had his fair share of injuries this season like having a heel bruise which kept him out of the picture from the end of February until the beginning of April, but that’s not the concern here. In the first-round playoff series against the Celtics, it has been a recurring theme that Love is having more difficulty than ever getting playing time.

It’s remarkable that he only played 10 minutes total in the next two games, considering that he often serves as Heat star Baba Adebayo’s primary backup center. He played 13 minutes in Game 1. Spoelstra claimed that it is “not an indictment on anybody” and that he was “looking for a spark,” using essentially the same logic to Robinson.

“I was looking for a spark once we got down 20,” Spoelstra said of moving away from Love. “This is not an indictment on anybody. Things move fast in a playoff series. It was tough to get a read on anything when we were playing out of that hole for most of three quarters.”

Love talks about staying ready for Heat when they need him

Love is now playing in his 16th NBA season, so there won’t be any animosity toward the choice, though there might be some understandable annoyance given that it’s a crucial playoff series. The seasoned player has accepted his position with the Heat and stated following practice on Sunday that his main goal is to be able “to just stay ready.”

“I believe my responsibility is to remain prepared, whether it’s by playing plug minutes, going longer, or simply realizing that this is a team you have to switch against frequently,” Love remarked on Sunday. Naturally, I believe that appeals to a lot of guys. strengths and there’s certain lineups where we do that, whether we go small or plug [Nikola Jovic] in at the five, I just think that they’ve in some ways, whether it be offensive rebounding or finding shots in the corner from three, have been able to take advantage of our zone.”

Love admits his flaw in matchup against Boston

The former Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers big-man admitted that it could be a matchup flaw for Love against the Celtics. He would delve into the specifics and say that “chasing those guys off of screens and switching hasn’t always been in my bag” according to Brendan Tobin.

Love remarked, “I know what I’m capable of offensively, and I know I can take advantage of that.” I don’t think I’ve always been good at switching and chasing those players off of screens. Although I believe I can be useful in a variety of situations, their team presents a lot of challenges. and for that reason, historically, they have been at the top in offensive production in certain aspects and in other ways. Something like this is something we either discuss or go silent, like I realize this kind of situation is similar to the one from last year, when I played the first three games and we added Haywood [Highsmith] to the next four, winning in seven games.

It will be interesting to see how Spoelstra uses Robinson and Love in future playoff games as those two have been key to the success of Miami this season. Fans will get to know Monday night when the Heat try to tie the series at two wins a piece in Game 4 inside the Kaseya Center.