PHOENIX — Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 111-102 victory over the Phoenix Suns:
– Granted, this was different than Saturday night in Utah.
–With enough missed shots on both ends to create ample opportunities for offensive rebounds.
– But for the Heat this remained about more than that.
– It remained a commitment to hit the offensive glass.
– For years, the Heat’s priority was to defend the backcourt.
– Rarely did more than two attack the offensive glass.
– Now the boards are being prioritized on both ends.
– On Saturday, it was 26 offensive rebounds against the Jazz.
– This time the Heat were up to 10 by halftime, closing with an impressive 18.
– “We want to make the efforts to go to the glass,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said between the games. “You can stand and watch, you can stand and kind of shuffle back, or you can make an effort.”
– He added, “We’ve been shooting more threes, so those are good opportunities to crash on the glass.”
– So, yes, hunt offensive rebounds.
– “I’m fine with them going,” Spoelstra said. “Yeah, we want them making efforts. I’d rather them do that than stand and watch.”
– Suns coach Jordan Ott took note before Sunday night’s game.
– “They’re not playing with two traditional bigs, and they’re still getting there,” Ott said, with the Heat without 7-foot Kel’el Ware for a fifth consecutive game. “So that’s something different that they’re doing.”
– With Davion Mitchell missing his fifth game with a shoulder contusion, the Heat opened for the third consecutive game with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis.
– Early in the day, only Adebayo of that first five was not on the Heat injury report.
– That lineup entered 2-1.
– It was Larsson’s 24th start.
– With Devin Booker and Jalen Green out for Phoenix, the Suns opened with a lineup of Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale and Mark Williams.
– They entered 1-3 when starting those five.
– Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic entered together first off the Heat bench.
– Myron Garner then was moved up to third off the Heat bench.
– And then Dru Smith for nine deep.
– With Simone Fontecchio rounding out the 10-man rotation.
– The Heat team flight from Salt Lake City to Phoenix was delayed by more than three hours Saturday night/Sunday morning.
– According to FlightAware, the team did not arrive until 4:30 a.m. local time with the game scheduled for 6 p.m. Phoenix time.
– Spoelstra was quick to downplay the inconvenience.
– “I mean, we were fortunate to save a little bit of time,” he said pregame with a smile. “They just dropped us off in parachutes like Navy SEALs. We’re ready to go.”
– Of Mitchell missing his fifth game overall and third in a row with a shoulder sprain, Spoelstra said, “He’s definitely making progress, but we need to go through some kind of workout where he takes contact and then see how he responds to that. But everything else is trending in a really good way.”
– Mitchell went through a non-contact workout 45 minutes prior to the game.
– Spoelstra was asked if he approached the stretch of five games in seven nights with a blueprint, with Sunday ending the run.
– “It’s tough to plan too far ahead based on things that happen during the course of the current game,” he said.
– Playing with one of the highest switch rates in the league, Spoelstra offered pregame insight in the absolute trust in Adebayo . . . and therefore perhaps some of the lack of trust in Ware.
– “You have to have versatile defenders,” Spoelstra said of the defensive switching. “But if you don’t have a five that can play multiple coverages, then you’ll be pretty much stuck to one coverage. Bam has proven over the course of his career that I think he’s the most versatile defender in the league because he has shown exceptional ability to defend in any coverage, whether you want to go drop, whether you want to go catch, whether you want to go trap somebody or switch. So it’s the end of the discussion.”
– Spoelstra added, “If your center can’t switch, then you’re only switching one through four. But in addition to that, yeah, you have to have a group of guys that can either handle the switch when they roll down or guard on the perimeter.”
– Spoelstra also spoke pregame of Adebayo turning in recent high-volume games with his 3-point shooting.
– “He’s a very good shooter,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve noticed that this year, when we’ve done shooting games, he’ll win games against our best 3-point shooters. So he’s earned that right to launch them.”
– Spoelstra added, “We all like it. It helps our offense when he’s spacing the floor. He’s finding a good balance right now, spacing out there and also attacking and being the rugged guy at the rim.”
– With Sunday night’s game, the Heat are done for the season with their schedule west of the Central time zone. Sunday was the Heat’s final game in the Mountain time zone this season, with Thursday night’s game in Portland their last in the Pacific time zone.