A Heat starting lineup change. Also, what to expect when attending playoff games at AA Arena
7 p.m. UPDATE: The Miami Heat’s starting lineup will look a little different in Game 3.
Veteran guard Goran Dragic will start in place of Kendrick Nunn on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, alongside Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, Trevor Ariza and Bam Adebayo.
This five-man lineup of Dragic, Robinson, Butler, Ariza and Adebayo played 15 minutes together and posted a plus/minus of plus-2 in the first two games of the series. The Heat outscored opponents by 11 points in 61 minutes with this group on the court in the regular season.
Nunn, who scored 19 points on 24 shots in the first two games of the series, moves to the bench.
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN ATTENDING HEAT PLAYOFF GAMES
Home-court advantage has been minimized this season with limited capacity at arenas across the NBA. But the Heat is hoping it again turns into a real advantage in the playoffs.
The Heat will play Game 3 of its first-round series against the Bucks on Thursday night in front of a near-capacity crowd at AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time since the 2019-20 NBA season was suspended in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Heat increased capacity at its home arena to 17,000 for the playoffs — the largest in the NBA this season, so far — or about 87 percent of its usual capacity of 19,600, as the league recently updated its policies for teams to welcome more fans into buildings. As of Thursday morning, there were still tickets available on Ticketmaster.com.
AmericanAirlines Arena was previously operating at a capacity of about 5,700 in the final weeks of the regular season.
“Our goal here is to obviously up the home-court advantage and kind of create that Heat environment that most of our fans are used to,” said Jarred Diamond, who is the executive vice president and general manager of AmericanAirlines Arena. “There will still be health and safety in mind. But at the same time, there’s going to be some sort of normalcy for folks as we increase our numbers.”
Along with increased capacity, the fan experience at AmericanAirlines Arena will look a little more normal, too.
Physical distancing between groups is no longer required, as some will be seated shoulder-to-shoulder to accommodate more fans. Seating will no longer be in pods or staggered in the arena bowl, but the expectation is pockets of multiple groups will be separated from other pockets by empty seats.
Starting with Thursday’s game, fans are also allowed to consume food and beverages while in their seats (unless seated within 30 feet of the court) or at any of the designated eating areas throughout the arena. Previously, no food and beverages were allowed to be consumed in the arena bowl.
“Just the environment itself, there will be more people here and we’re doing everything we can here on the ground to deliver that Heat experience that folks are used to,” Diamond said.
But other health and safety protocols remain in place. That includes a strict masking policy for all fans not actively eating or drinking, and no eating or drinking while walking or standing in the concourses, at concession stands or bars.
“We’re going to do the best that we can,” Diamond said of enforcing the masking policy with more fans in the arena. “We’re not going to be able to catch everyone. But we’re hoping that folks get it and the majority of them understand that this is for everybody, this is NBA policy.”
To accommodate more fans, Diamond said all of the arena’s entrances will be open and “you will now see contactless payment options increased, more mobile ordering options and locations.” Fans can purchase food through mobile ordering by texting “Heat” to 474747 with a link then texted back to them to begin their order.
The entire arena, including all merchandise stations, concession stands, bars, and premium dining spaces, is cashless.
“I think tech is going to be key and something that folks will see an increase of when they’re here,” Diamond said.
Fans are encouraged not to bring bags to the arena, with exceptions made for very small bags, because “you’re not going to get in as fast.”
“Really, we’re a bagless venue,” Diamond said. “And if you do bring a bag into the venue, that means you need to go through an X-ray machine. And that is going to be a much, much slower process for those guests that do decide to bring a bag. We’ll be ready. There are reasons why folks need to bring bags into the building and we’ll have those X-rays. But it’s not going to move as fast.”
The Heat isn’t the only team to increase capacity at its home arena for the playoffs after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently loosened some of its recommended protocols for those who are fully vaccinated. The New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks are among the teams that also announced increased capacity for the playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks allowed up to 9,100 fans to attend Games 1 and 2 of the series at Fiserv Forum. But the Bucks announced Wednesday that they are increasing capacity to 16,500 for the remainder of the playoffs.
“It has just been an extraordinary year to go through everything and not really have an opportunity in front of our fans,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody in this league, it has been a shame. Secondly, it’s the playoff experience. You want to be able to have that.”
After beginning the season with no fans in attendance at AmericanAirlines Arena amid the pandemic, the Heat first allowed fans to attend home games again in late January. Miami has been slowly increasing capacity since then before this big jump for the playoffs.
“We had the time. We started in January with 150 people and then we took the jump. We didn’t jump from 150 to 16,000,” Diamond said. “So each jump, whether it was from 150 to 3,000 to 5,000 to 8,800, we’ve learned from that prior phase. So we’ve been able to take those learnings and apply it. It has been a rebuild.
“It’s interesting. I’ve been here for 20 years. Most of our staff has been here for a while. Events with 3,000 or 4,000 or 5,000 or 6,000 people, that was easy for us. This is completely different. There’s no book. There’s no manual. It took a complete team. Everyone working together, learning, guest feedback, surveys, hearing from our members and just collecting that information and preparing for the next stage.”
For more information on what to expect while attending Heat games at AmericanAirlines Arena, visit Heat.com/FanSafety.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 11:05 AM.
