NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS. HEAT

September 22, 2020

Erik Spoelstra

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. I just had a quick one about Duncan Robinson. I know you've answered a ton of questions about him. A lot of guys come out of school and are elite shooters but don't make the same journey he's been able to. What sets him apart?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: There's only 450 human beings that make this league. I think a big separator, probably one of the biggest separators, is your level of persistence and grit. Duncan has proven that he is uncommon with his grit, because there would be a lot of things that would be in the way of him becoming one of the 450 in this league.

Q. Did you discover that grit once he arrived or did you know about it beforehand?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: You never know until you get somebody in your building and they have to grind through some things and face some adversity, so forth.

Q. Are there any injury updates? Andre Iguodala's back or anything nagging that might show up on the injury report later?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, everybody went through it today.

Q. And because you had this three-day break, was there a benefit to it? Brad Stevens even said it seems eerie now. There's so many teams gone. There's sort of a different feeling. What's it been like without games for three straight days now?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Been able to spend a little bit more time on FaceTime with my family, so that part has been good. So whether it benefits either team, we'll find out tomorrow night.

Q. Obviously it's way too simple to say that the first quarter has got to be better tomorrow night, but is it just that simple?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, it's not. You have to play 48 minutes, if not more, as we already have. Certainly it would help to be able to get off to a good start, but you have to play good basketball more consistently when you get to this point in the Conference Finals against a quality opponent.