Heat’s Erik Spoelstra misses game against Brooklyn. Chris Quinn fills in
For only the third time in his 14 years as Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra is missing a game.
Spoelstra is missing Saturday’s home game against Brooklyn because one of his two sons is undergoing a medical procedure.
Chris Quinn is handling head coach duties in a regular season game for the first time as an NBA coach.
Spoelstra previously missed two games because of the birth of his two sons, Dante and Santiago.
Dan Craig, now a Los Angeles Clippers assistant, filled in for Spoelstra both of those games, losses against Indiana and Boston in 2018 and 2019.
“Couple hours since I found out,” Quinn said 105 minutes before tipoff. “I’m not re-writing the book by any means. We have a culture in place.”
Quinn will have nearly a full roster. Six players listed as questionable - Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson and P.J. Tucker - are all expected to play.
Gabe Vincent remains out with a toe contusion.
Quinn, who previously coached the Heat’s summer league team, said working with Spoelstra helped prepare him for this moment:
“Spo is a top 15 coach of all time. Any time you have a mentor of that level and coach [Pat] Riley around so much, mentors of that level, I’ve learned in my seven, eight years of coaching tremendously from Spo. It only makes sense my voice is sounding like him at this point.”
Udonis Haslem recently said of Quinn: “His voice resonates just as much as Spo’s voice. When you listen to Quinny, you’re hearing Spo. It’s the same message.
“If anybody has an opportunity to step into the next level sooner than later, it would be Quinny. He has the knowledge, the experience, the relationship with the players. He has every base covered when you talk about checking the boxes to have the ability to be a successful head coach.”
Quinn has been a Heat assistant since 2014. He played six seasons in the NBA, including his first three with the Heat.
Asked whether Caron Butler or Malik Allen would take over if Quinn is ejected, Quinn said: “I don’t plan on getting tossed. It would be Malik I believe.”
The Heat entered on a three-game losing streak.
“They’re a well-oiled machine,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of the Heat organization, despite this week’s struggles.
During an early timeout, the Heat plans to honor Nets guard Goran Dragic, who is making his first appearance at FTX Arena since the Heat traded him to Toronto last July as part of the Kyle Lowry trade.
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 6:27 PM.
