Mailbag: Is it time for Heat to go back to Kevin Love? And answering Jokic, Butler questions
The Miami Herald’s Heat mailbag is back for the NBA Finals.
If you weren’t able to ask this time, send your questions for future mailbags via Twitter (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email them in to achiang@miamiherald.com.
Andy: Why didn’t Kevin Love play in Game 1 of the Finals?
Anthony: The Heat opted for the physicality and size of the 6-foot-11 Cody Zeller over the 6-foot-8 Love at backup center in the opening game of the championship series. Denver outscored Miami by five points in the eight minutes that Zeller played on Thursday.
The Heat has been outscored by 19.3 points per 100 possessions with Zeller on the court since the start of the East finals. So maybe another change to the rotation could be coming.
Love is an option to fill the backup center minutes, but the Denver Nuggets will target his defense whenever he’s on the court. However, Love would help space the floor for the Heat with his three-point shooting and is still a quality rebounder.
Love has not played in the last three games after losing his spot in the starting lineup to Caleb Martin. Love could also move back into the starting unit, considering the starting lineup has been outscored by 20 points per 100 possessions in the last three games since the switch to Martin was made.
Another option for the Heat is to play Haywood Highsmith as its backup center. Highsmith is only 6-5, but the Nuggets go small when two-time MVP center Nikola Jokic is on the bench with either the 6-foot-8 Jeff Green or the 6-foot-8 Aaron Gordon as the backup center.
Jim: Did you notice how Nikola Jokic is moving on many of his dribble handoffs and pick and rolls? The reason that it’s not called an offensive foul is that no one on the Heat wants to run into him (and be injured). And he knows it. The Heat needs to change that if they want to stay with Jamal Murray. He’s a wide body to go around, especially when he’s swiveling. Caleb Martin and the others need to run into that screen and get the call.
Anthony: Opposing fans will say something similar about Bam Adebayo on his dribble handoffs and screens. The point is officials aren’t going to call that every time and by running into the screen, the Heat runs the risk of getting called for its own foul.
Jokic is one of the best screeners in the league. He’s averaging the second-most screen assists in the NBA this postseason at 13.8 per game. Relying on the officials to bail out the Heat isn’t the answer to solving the Jokic problem.
The issue is, there may not be an answer to the Jokic problem. He’s one of the most skilled big men to ever play the sport and has already set a new NBA record with nine triple-doubles this postseason.
Danny: What is wrong with Jimmy Butler? He’s not playing like he was earlier in the playoffs.
Anthony: Butler definitely wasn’t as aggressive as usual in the opening game of the Finals and he’s averaging 20.7 points on 39.3 percent shooting from the field since Game 3 of the East finals. Those numbers are concerning because the Heat needs Butler to be great to compete with the Nuggets and win the Finals.
Is it the ankle he turned in the second round? Is it fatigue? Is it opposing defenses adjusting to what Butler was doing earlier this postseason? It might be a combination of all those things.
But Butler still has the ability to go off at any time. We’ll see if he still has a few more incredible playoff performances in him.
This story was originally published June 3, 2023 at 11:41 AM.
