BOSTON — Despite a 102-82 drubbing at the hands of the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes his team can return the favor in Game 5.
«We've proven that we can do it,» Spoelstra said. «The margin for error for either team — whatever they have done to us, we can do to them. None of us are happy about what happened tonight.
»This is part of the playoffs. There are these extreme highs and lows, particularly when you have two teams that are pretty closely, evenly matched. But we've proven that we can find solutions offensively in a lot of different ways."
What gives Spoelstra and his team so much belief is they have spent much of the season dealing with a variety of different injuries and still found a way to earn the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Heat showed no signs of panic late Monday night despite the lopsided affair, reinforcing that they can fix the problems no matter who is on the floor.
Heat guard Tyler Herro missed Monday's game because of a groin strain and his status for Game 5 is uncertain. Jimmy Butler is dealing with knee soreness but said he isn't «too worried» about the injury. P.J. Tucker (knee soreness) and Kyle Lowry (hamstring strain) are also dealing with ongoing issues — but the Heat refuse to use those injuries as excuses for their poor play.
«Injuries is a part of this,» Heat center Bam Adebayo said. «It's a part of playoffs. You learn to adapt. We're one of those teams, we've had so many injuries throughout the season that you know we've learned how to win. Guys being out, guys playing half, guys playing 20 minutes in the game, just depends.»
Butler echoed a similar sentiment in regards to his knee issue.
«I'm
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