It is no secret that the Miami Heat is dealing with injury problems, an issue that has plagued them all the way since last season where the team was inconsistent. However, despite suffering from setbacks, the Heat have played better than usual, possibly because the team has been used to being under-manned.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has not been shy in using a multitude of different lineups and rotations. So much so, that Miami leads the league with 19 different starting lineups. Heat's veteran big-man in Kevin Love talked about how that style of coaching gives the team “confidence” according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
“I think it gives everybody confidence,” Heat veteran Kevin Love said. “I feel like every game that we approach, every time we step out on the floor, every time we prepare and go through walk through, we know that we can win. We feel like we are the better team. I think that goes into the ethos and the idea that we do have enough.”
Love has worked wonders for the Heat this season as he has been a productive back-up to star Bam Adebayo. Despite the loss to the Phoenix Suns Friday night, Love scored 20 points to go along with his seven rebounds.
Duncan Robinson talks about the Heat's “mindset”
Miami's dynamic three-point shooter in Duncan Robinson calls the “confidence” that Love used earlier as a “mindset” that every player on the team has. Robinson has improved in a ton of areas on both sides of the ball and averaging a career-high 14.2 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from deep.
“It’s just like a mindset,” Robinson said. “There’s never an excuse about who’s in the lineup, who’s out of the lineup. We see how those guys work and they might not be in the rotation, the same way a lot of us worked when we weren’t in the rotation. So there’s a lot of confidence that no matter who’s in the lineup, we can still get a win.”
Robinson calls the team “versatile” as they deal with injuries
Because of the team being used to playing with different lineups, Miami has been battle-tested with whatever group they have. Robinson, who has been with the Heat for six seasons, calls the team “versatile in that way.”
“We’re able to do different things to kind of play to our strengths with whatever group we have,” Robinson said. “We’re pretty versatile in that way. We’re able to play through different people offensively if we need to. I think it just makes us difficult to prepare for, especially in moments like these with guys out of the lineup.”
While it is fortunate that the team is playing well even with the injuries, Spoelstra and the rest of the team still want the group to be 100 percent. Heat star Jimmy Butler currently has missed seven of the last eight games with toe and calf injuries. Adding that with the prolonged absences of stars Tyler Herro and Bam Aedbayo, the big three of the Heat have only played in eight games of the first 35 contests this season.
The Heat prepare for the next four games on the home-stand as it starts Tuesday when they face the Houston Rockets. Miami is currently 20-15 which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference.
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