Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 97-94 NBA playoff victory over the Atlanta Hawks:
— It is the most unusual of roles: Victor Oladipo in extreme injury absence becomes The Man for the Miami Heat. Otherwise, just another man.
— And that will make it interesting to see where this is all headed.
— With Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry out on Tuesday night, the offense was his.
— He seized the moment.
— Looking very Oladipo-ish.
— But when the Heat are whole, and when Tyler Herro is closer to the top of his game, Oladipo mostly is needed to complement.
— Which is a difficult transition for any former All-Star, let alone one who is 29.
— Which will make Oladipo’s next step this offseason intriguing.
— To stay and support?
— Or to move on and re-emerge at his highest level?
— For now, he offered what was needed Tuesday night.
— Which already made this year-and-a-half engagement a worthwhile one.
— Even if with just this single meaningful moment in time.
— To be continued?
— A decision for another day.
— With Butler and Lowry out, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra moved Oladipo into his starting lineup.
— It was Oladipo’s second start with the Heat, the other coming on closing night of the regular season, when Spoelstra sat his rotation players in Orlando.
— And, again, it was Gabe Vincent opening at point guard in place of Lowry.
— Otherwise, the usual of Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker and Max Strus.
— Prior to Tuesday, that starting quintet had played a grand total of two minutes together, all in the Sunday’s Game 4.
— The equation was evened a bit when the Hawks announced an hour before tip-off that Bogdan Bogdanovic was out due to knee pain.
— With Bogdanovic arguably the series’ best reserve through the first four games.
— The Hawks opened with Clint Capela, John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Trae Young.
— With more torment for Young following.
— Herro played as Heat sixth man.
— Then Caleb Martin.
— All as Oladipo remained on the court.
— Adebayo then was rushed back in when Tucker was called for a second foul with 5:03 left in the opening period.
— With Duncan Robinson eventually playing as the third reserve.
— Leaving Dewayne Dedmon on the outside until the start of the second period.
— Adebayo’s fifth rebound moved him past P.J. Brown for seventh on the Heat all-time playoff list.
— Robinson’s third 3-point attempt was the 200th of his career in the playoffs.
— Herro’s second free throw moved him past Brown for 16th on the Heat all-time playoff list.
— Adebayo’s third free-throw attempt moved him past Tim Hardaway for ninth on the Heat all-time playoff list.
— Spoelstra went in expecting a desperate opponent.
— “Yeah, I mean, you have to expect that,” he said. “You know, it’s tough to win and win four games in a playoff series. So we’ll get an incredible, desperate effort on their part. And we’ll have to exceed that, but also play well.”
— Pacers coach Nate McMillan acknowledged the Heat’s alternate composition without Butler.
— “You definitely have to change the focus a little bit on their attack,” he said pregame. “Jimmy has been the guy who really, offensively, has gotten them going with the first and second unit, his ability to create some offense for himself as well as his teammates.”
— McMillan added, “Without him being in the lineup, you have to focus on how they are going to attack. Expect their guards, Herro and Robinson, those guys to really get a lot more action. Bam, expect he will see more touches. Defensively, I think it changes some things for them.”
— He also took a moment to note, “He does a lot for them, but they still have a really good group over there.”
— McMillan went in stressing pace.
— “We had zero fast-break points,” he said of Sunday’s Game 4. “We’ve got to play faster. And it starts with us getting stops. It’s really difficult to play against a set defense all night long. We’re averaging 98 points a game.”
— The Hawks then had two first-half fast-break points.
— Juwan Howard visited by the Heat bench shortly before tipoff.
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