Oladipo enjoys culmination of his long road back, lifts Heat into playoffs’ second round | Opinion
Who was going to stand up and lead? Because somebody had to Tuesday night. Volunteers were not requested, but required.
Jimmy Butler sat out with inflammation in his right knee. It was understandable. When a man has been carrying an entire team, and a whole city, in a playoff series — it can wear on the legs. Butler did that the first four games for the Miami Heat, averaging 30.5 points 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals.
Kyle Lowry also sat out a second game in a row, again with a strained hamstring.
The Heat’s veteran leadership, 40 percent of the starting lineup, erased, relegated to street clothes and courtside exhortations.
There was familiarity more than panic in the circumstance.
Miami’s four leading scorers — Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Lowry — had missed a combined 86 games in the regular season, mostly to injuries.
“We have had a lot of variations of the rotation that has given us confidence to be able to handle things that are unpredictable,” as coach Erik Spoelstra noted. “We have gained a lot of confidence to figure out ways to win.”
Who, though?
Victor Oladipo, starting in place of Butler, raised his hand first and highest.
Then Max Strus did.
Both with the telling spurts that defined Miami’s 97-94 Game 5 win over Atlanta and 4-1 elimination of the Hawks in this first-round NBA playoff series — the Heat needing to thwart a last-second Hawks in-bounds play for the dramatic win.
Now the Heat has earned what could be four extra days of rest (and healing) before the second round begins, depending on how Philadelphia-vs. Toronto plays out, on Monday.
Miami’s “White Hot” playoff crowd looked like a blizzard Tuesday night and sounded like what we haven’t heard in this arena in six years: Home fans, in the home building, cheering their team’s advance in a postseason series for the first time since May, 1, 2016.
And you had to smile at how it happened, and who made it happen.
It wasn’t so long ago the Big 3 reigned in this building, LeBron James, Dwyane wade and Chris Bosh. They’re only in the memory now, in the rafters now.
And now Butler and Lowry both were sidelined. So:
Oladipo, healthy only since March after nearly a full year’s rehabilitation from surgery on his right quadriceps tendon.
“A year ago I was I expecting my next surgery. I was sitting in a dark room by myself, and I just broke down,” Oladipo said. “I was at the lowest point.”
And Strus, barely recruited and undrafted out of college, a starter only the past few weeks and, this night at least, the face of the Heat’s knack for out of nowhere “finds.”
Strus scored 10 consecutive points including a pair of three-pointers in an under-two-minute flurry late in the first half to make the game pivot from a 40-39 deficit to a 49-40 lead. Miami would not trail again. Strus turned a nervous crowd sonic, and turned the game around.
Oladipo’s critical burst had come mid-first quarter, with eight points in a row for Miami’s first lead. Later he would hit Miami’s first three-pointer after the team had begun 0 for 8 from behind the arc. Oladipo plays with a reckless, whirling dervish intensity that crowd was cheering on.
Oladipo would finish with 23 points and Strus 15, but they were the twin sparks. Bam Adebayo chipped in 20, his best offensive game of the series. Tyler Herro added 16.
Oladipo and Strus’ fingerprints were on this one, though, combining for five of the team’s six three-point baskets, and the combination of them speaking to the Heat’s resourcefulness.
“I really admire Vic for this three-year journey dealing with injuries and frustration,” Spoelstra said. “It’s why everybody roots for him.”
The Hawks and desperate Trae Young had a chance to move with 3-2 against the wounded Heat and head back hope looking to square the series and force a Game 7.
Wounded Miami said nope — fittingly with a defensive play to seal it.
Now, with business taken care of in what should have been and was a pretty easy first round for Miami, Heat fans should be awaiting what’s ahead like a big dog watching his food bowl being filled.
Up next (likely) is Philadelphia, with Joel Embiid playing through a sprained thumb and admonishing James Harden to be more aggressive (re: shoot more, play better). Oh, and those lovely Philly fans!
Advance further and run into (likely) either fierce rival Boston (and that charming fan base) or reigning champion Milwaukee — the team that swept Miami in the first round last year.
Surviving the brutal Eastern Conference looms so Herculean that a spot in the NBA Finals might almost seem like a respite.
Meantime appreciate the Heat’s relentless competitiveness and, yes, Culture, in contrast to the mess the Brooklyn Nets were this season. The super team-turned-super fraud got swept by Boston in the first round after a hugely disappointing regular season.
Dwyane Wade calls Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving the most gifted duo ever to play on one team, magnifying the failure tenfold. Irving couldn’t bother being a team player by getting vaccinated. The trade for Ben Simmons helped the Nets a big stinking pile of zero. Durant is left to shake his head.
As the Heat chugs forward, determined this championship is theirs to win as much as it is anyone’s.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Oladipo enjoys culmination of his long road back, lifts Heat into playoffs’ second round | Opinion."
