MIAMI — Want to evoke the ire of Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra? Hit him with talk of a been-there, done-that approach after his team advanced to last season’s NBA Finals through the play-in round.
No, Spoelstra said, not only isn’t there hope for deja vu, but the notion of comfort in potentially having to take the same path a year later isn’t even palatable at the moment.
“We’re not thinking about last year,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat turning their focus to Tuesday night’s game against the New York Knicks at Kaseya Center, one of eight remaining regular-season games. “Each season is its own deal. We’re going for it. That’s who we are. If we see opportunity in front of us, that’s what we’re going for.”
The Heat exited Sunday night’s road victory over the Washington Wizards at No. 7 in the Eastern Conference. The top six teams in each conference advance directly to the best-of-seven opening round of the playoffs. Teams Nos. 7-10 have to participate in the play-in round, where one or two losses mean elimination before the playoffs and a trip to the lottery.
The Heat remain on the cusp of the top six in the East and also are on the verge of clinching no worse than No. 8 in the East.
Such positioning at No. 7 or No. 8 would mean two chances in the play-in round to secure the one victory needed to advance to the playoffs.
The Heat finished in seventh place in the East last season, lost their play-in opener to the Atlanta Hawks, and then won a winner-take-all play-in game against the Chicago Bulls to secure the No. 8 playoff seed.
“These playoff races and positioning, they’re competitive for all the teams,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat’s next six games against teams vying for postseason seeding. “Both conferences, I think there’s a lot to be sorted out before we get to the end of the season, and it’s only eight games.
“But when you’re looking at the standings and everybody is one game apart, there’s a lot to be sorted out.”
Not only did Terry Rozier lead the Heat with a game-high 27 points in Sunday night’s victory in Washington, he also tied his career high with four steals.
“Terry is getting a lot more comfortable,” Spoelstra said of the guard acquired in January from the Charlotte Hornets. “He really is pure, he wants to help, he wants to contribute, he wants to make things better and easier with the group.
“He’s really been competing defensively on the ball. That’s really helped us in both our man and our zone. Then offensively, it’s just taken a little bit of time.”
Spoelstra said the adjustment has been as anticipated.
“When you’re thinking of others so much and then you’re hearing it that you also have to be you, that’s easier said than done when you’re coming to a team after mid-season,” Spoelstra said. “But it’s really been good to see him comfortable and that’s allowed him to be aggressive within the context of how we want to do things.”
After four seasons with the Hornets, Rozier is relishing being back in a playoff race.
“It’s great,” he said. “You know how my last four years went. So just to be in this position, to be competing and to be in an important spot, it means a lot.”
Duncan Robinson marked his return from a five-game absence from a back issue with a pair of 3-pointers against the Wizards, immediately reinserted back into the starting lineup.
“There’s definitely concern,” Robinson said of what was listed as left facet syndrome. “It was an issue that had kind of built up over time a little bit. So trying to be smart about managing it. When I do come back, I want to try to stay back and not have to be in and out, develop some continuity in that sense.”
