How schedule will test Heat over next month. Spoelstra: ‘We’re competitors. We don’t want to hide’
The core of this Miami Heat roster is already battle-tested after making three Eastern Conference finals appearances and two NBA Finals appearances in the last four seasons.
But a new season brings new challenges, and the first one is here.
Following Wednesday night’s narrow 103-102 win over the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center to open the season, the Heat (1-0) hits the road for 12 of the next 16 games. As if that stretch won’t be difficult enough, eight of those 12 road games come against teams that made the playoffs last season.
“Let’s go. We’re competitors,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about the upcoming segment of the schedule. ”We don’t want to hide. We don’t want to dodge anybody in this league. This league is about competition, survival of the strongest.”
It begins with an Eastern Conference finals rematch against the Boston Celtics on Friday at TD Garden (7:30 p.m., ESPN and Bally Sports Sun) to kick off a three-game trip that also includes a matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday and then a showdown against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.
“It’s going to test us,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “This is one of those road trips where you’re going into the lion’s den and seeing where you are, seeing who you are as a team and your identity.”
The Heat’s matchup against the Celtics and Bucks will be especially interesting.
The Heat and Celtics have faced off in the East finals three times in the last four seasons, and Miami has won two of those series. That includes last season, when the Heat won Game 7 of the conference finals in Boston before eventually losing to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.
The Heat and Bucks have also met in the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, and Miami has won two of those series. That also includes last season, when the eighth-seeded Heat upset the top-seeded Bucks 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
Then, of course, the Celtics and Bucks both added All-Star caliber players this summer who the Heat also pursued. Boston traded for two-time All-Star and five-time All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday to add to a talented core that already included Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and Milwaukee traded for seven-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard to pair him with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“At the end of the day, it’s a good test for us at the beginning of this season,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “Going on the road with a bunch of new faces, build chemistry, go through those experiences together on the road. You can’t really simulate that here at home. We all live in different places. But being on the road together is different. I think it will be good for us at the beginning of the season going on this road trip.”
Returning Heat players and coaches know the Celtics have probably been looking forward to facing them after having their season ended by Miami five months ago in the conference finals.
Spoelstra said: “I’m sure they circled us on the calendar. If you’re really all about it, that’s what you want. We’re looking forward to getting on this road trip and getting this season going.”
Herro said: “I’m sure they’re definitely looking forward to playing us after last year.”
Heat forward Kevin Love added: “We understand that we’re probably circled on their season calendar.”
But the Heat also has its own issues to figure out after allowing a 19-point fourth-quarter lead nearly slip away in what ended up as a one-point win over the Pistons in Wednesday’s season opener.
The Heat outscored the young and rebuilding Pistons 25-9 in points off turnovers and 21-9 at the foul line and still barely won because it shot just 40.2 percent from the field and was outscored 33-24 behind the three-point line. The Heat totaled just nine points over the final nine minutes of the game, as the Pistons rallied and nearly completed the double-digit comeback.
“That’s how we like to play. We like to play close games,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said following Wednesday’s one-point victory. “We’ve done that every year that I’ve been here, it seems like. But a win is a win, as Spo would tell you and I would tell you and anybody in that locker room would tell you. We take them how we can get them on that side and we’re undefeated.”
The Heat opened last regular season with a 7-11 record. Miami is hoping to avoid another slow start this season, but the schedule won’t make it easy.
For perspective, the Heat plays its sixth home game this season on Nov. 28. The Heat’s sixth home game last season came on Nov. 2.
“We’re looking to go win games, we’re not looking to just go up there and see where we are,” Adebayo said. “We’re expecting to win. We’re wanting to win and that’s our mindset.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 11:34 AM.
