ASK IRA: Are Heat already at make-or-break in NBA Finals?
Q: Lose Sunday and it’s over. – Davis.
A: Just like it was over after losing to the Hawks in the play-in opener? Just like it was after trailing the Bulls in the fourth quarter of the ensuing all-or-nothing second play-in game? Just like it was over when the Heat were reduced to No. 8 playoff seed against the No. 1 Bucks? Just like it was over when having to play as the road team at Madison Square Garden? Just like it was over after Derrick White’s putback winner with one-tenth of a second to play in Game 6 against the Celtics? (OK, starting to sound like John Belushi as Bluto in “Animal House,” when he rousingly offered, “What? Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! It ain’t over now, ’cause when the goin’ gets tough, the tough get goin’. Who’s with me? Let’s go! Come on!”)
Q: Memo to Nuggets: Please give us the same looks on Sunday. Please. – Douglas.
A: And they likely will, particularly if Nikola Jokic continues to play in a drop on defense. But the Heat also have to be careful about being seduced into solely accepting midrange jumpers, which was part of the reason Bam Adebayo exceeded his career high for shots in a game in Game 1. Some of those Heat looks have to continue to come from behind the 3-point line. The Nuggets are going to score; they have reached the point of almost unstoppable. That means generating enough points to stay competitive. And that means scoring in threes at least part of the time. Open two-point shots are good. Open three-point shots are better. The open shots will be there. It’s about eating from the correct shot menu.
Q: “Lead Us” Omer Yurtseven. – Ronnie.
A: I can almost guarantee that if there is a Heat “Lead Us” moment in the postgame locker room after a victory in the NBA Finals, it will not be coach Erik Spoelstra having Omer Yurtseven bringing the team together in the locker-room huddle. With all due respect to Omer and his still-intriguing NBA possibilities, that ship has sailed. You don’t go from not playing someone at all to any type of leading role. Omer already is an NBA-level and scorer – which also tells you, by his lack of playing time, what the staff thinks about his defense. The Heat are at the stage of the season where it’s about solutions, not experiments. Omer’s struggles with lateral movement on defense are not something a staff turns to at moments like this. Yes, I, too, would have liked to have seen more of Omer during the regular season. But I’m also not in practices, where the staff makes such determinations about playability.