NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT VS. CELTICS

May 19, 2023

Erik Spoelstra

Miami Heat

Game 2: Postgame

Miami Heat 111, Boston Celtics 105

Q. Familiar theme of the season, you tell us how those moments prepare the team for this moment. Talk about the team's poise and moxie and going up 2-0.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: I think probably all those games, more than anything, it just makes you realize how tough it is. It really is tough to win. It's even tougher to win in the playoffs, and then you're playing against a very good basketball team in Boston.

We have just had a lot of reps on learning how to deal with a lot of different emotions. I mean, there were so many different ebbs and flows of that game, but you start to wrap your mind around that it's going to be a long game, 48 minutes, and you've got to win skirmishes. We had to battle through deficits in both halves, but we showed that grit and perseverance to be able to hang in there and make some plays.

And defensively, in the second quarter we were really good to get back in the game. And same thing in the second half and then Jimmy and Bam just really anchored us offensively. It's great when your two best players can lead you, in a place where the ball can go and everybody else is just playing off of those guys. But they also hit some very timely, big shots in that fourth quarter.

Q. What did you think of not just the entire game but once they put Rob on Caleb, his response to that?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: They did it last year, so it's almost like he's had 12 months to prepare for this. You know, he has a lot of pride. He doesn't like being dis -- whatever, you know.

But he's an important playmaker for us. Spacing the floor. He's not your traditional 3-and-D guy. He's a little unconventional out of the box, so he can do a lot of different things. But yeah, that's part of it: If they are going to play way off of him, he's now had a lot of months of knocking down those kind of shots. But also off the dribble, making plays and those timely winning plays.

Again, the second quarter, really, they made a big-time push and Caleb was the one, his energy, his offense, his defensive efforts, really just kept us in that scrum.

Q. Jimmy and Bam are different off the court but you've talked about how similar they are on the court, just their on-court personas. What makes them so unique?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Their competitive spirit. Their competitive will. They compete to win, and they understand that you have to do it on both ends of the court. Both of them at some point basically guarded everybody on the floor, basically at some point with the switches. They are going to burn a lot of calories on that end, but they have to shoulder massive responsibilities for us on the other end.

So we follow them. We follow them with their spirit, their competitive will, night in, night out.

Q. You've talked for years about the will that you've got to have to succeed in the postseason. Why is the belief within this group so strong that you guys will find a way no matter the circumstances?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Feels like this has just been our existence all year long. I guess nobody is really paying attention. But we're in -- every single game, it felt like for weeks on end, every game was ending on the last-second shot, whether we're shooting it or the other team is shooting it.

So you develop some grit from that. Whether that turns into confidence or not, sometimes you don't have the confidence. But at least you have that experience of going through stuff and you understand how tough it is.

Q. What was going through your head when you saw Jimmy and Grant face to face like that?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: (Shrugs.)

Q. Is it fair to say you were not displeased?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: I can see where you're going. Look, I love that gnarly version of Jimmy, but you get that regardless. I just think people now are paying a lot more attention to him now that we've won some games in the postseason the last few years. Jimmy is just a real competitor.

Q. But playing that way, you guys have played close games for like a decade. Is there a comfort when the game is like that that you feel --

ERIK SPOELSTRA: For a whole decade? We're going to go compare this to the --

Q. You guys play close games every year.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: That sounds like it's almost an indictment on the style of play, in the mud -- no, I'm kidding.

I think the only thing that's relevant is this year. Well, this group has been together for a while, so there's some collective experiences together. But certainly this year was really unique for all of us. There's a beauty in the struggle. There's a beauty in that grind, and we're privileged to be able to go through a unique regular season like we have.

But we are in the midst of this right now. Yes, we feel a certain way about getting these two games, but we are well aware of who they are, what they are capable of. Just in these first two games, they have gone on big runs on us.

So we have to stay focused on the task at hand and get ready for a big battle in Game 3.

Q. Game 2 against New York, I imagine you knew you would be going to some zone just because Butler was out. I wonder if this one you thought you would be playing -- you had any idea you would be playing as much zone as you did?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: I don't know. When you play against great teams, very good teams like we're facing, Boston, you just have to do whatever is necessary.

Now, it's not about the schematics or the X's and O's. You can invent a new defense. If you're not committed to doing tough things -- that's what this is about, doing tough things. These guys are not easy to defend. You have to be committed to doing the multiple efforts to contain, to get to the three-point line, to contain their drives. They do all of that, and then they crash the glass, whether in the man or the zone.

But our guys have kind of wrapped their mind around that, how tough it is in the postseason.

Q. You've obviously been asked a lot about the undrafted story, and having so many players along those lines.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, that's kind of played out. Yeah.

Q. Well, my question --

ERIK SPOELSTRA: They are not even like -- that's so disrespectful to keep on talking about that that way. Like, Gabe has been with us; he's a veteran.

Q. Yes.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's a seasoned veteran. I have not even bothered to look at the playoff experience, but he's got as much playoff experience as anybody in this postseason. He's been with us since the bubble.

That storyline is over. These guys have proven themselves as competitors and winning players. Maybe they feel a certain way about it, but they have the full trust of everybody in our locker room. This is just about the Heat versus Celtics right now.

Q. My question along those lines is what are the intangibles that those types of players have that you typically look for that are showing up right now in the playoffs?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, you see it, it's on display: competitive will, competitive spirit, toughness, understanding how tough it is to win. There's a humility to that. It's a tough balance to have that razor's edge but also have a humility and a respect for the opponent. Those guys have that, for sure.

Q. Obviously you count on Duncan's three-point shooting to help you, but he also was aggressive in going to the basket and gave you sort of a spark at a bunch of different times. He's a guy that's been in; he's a guy that's been out, spotted a little. Your thoughts on his overall effort tonight.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Now that's been two years of development, where the scouting report was to do anything and everything to get him off that three-point line. So he's been working on that diligently for two offseasons, regular seasons, really working on his off-ball movement, more actions to the rim. You saw the back cut.

And putting the ball on the floor, I can't even mention how many drives he's worked on during the offseason over and over and over, and then still doing his normal shooting routine because that's what creates the overreactions. But that's a credit to his commitment to player development.

Q. What have you guys seen that you've done against Tatum in the fourth quarter that he's yet to make a field goal?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: I don't like thinking about that. He's a great player. I mentioned that at the top of this series. He's one of the best players on this planet that play with that round ball.

You know, sometimes, it's make or miss in this league. We're aware of, if you think that he's going to keep on -- if he's going to miss at some points in the game, we know what he can do in the fourth quarter. We were watching that previous series. He's a great player. He deserves the respect of our efforts to try to make it tough.

But great players, they can go above and beyond.

Q. Well, has the respect that your guys have had for him caused them to kind of raise their execution to slow him in that fourth quarter?

ERIK SPOELSTRA: Our guys? Yeah, I don't know. Sometimes it's make or miss. He's fully capable of making some of these shots. It always looks better if you get the win.