Reserves shine as Miami turn up the heat
Without All-Stars Butler and Lowry, Oladipo and Strus step up to help top seeds advance
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MIAMI • The Miami Heat did not have their starting backcourt available, with All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry both injured.
But the hosts showed on Tuesday just why they are the top seeds in the Eastern Conference after a 97-94 National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs victory over the Atlanta Hawks for a 4-1 first-round series win.
Despite being depleted, the Heat produced a superb defensive performance in eliminating their opponents and their bench strength puts them in good stead as they aim to reach their second NBA Finals in three seasons.
Victor Oladipo and Max Strus filled in for Butler and Lowry, and they were both integral in helping Miami advance to a semi-final series against either the Philadelphia 76ers or the Toronto Raptors.
Oladipo has appeared in just 96 out of a possible 309 regular-season games over the past four years because of various injuries. He returned to action just last month after an 11-month injury layoff, but was handed his first post-season start by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
That faith was repaid with a 23-point display alongside teammate Bam Adebayo, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Oladipo was once the marquee player for the Indiana Pacers, earning two All-Star nominations from 2018-19, until injuries derailed his career, playing only 96 games in four years.
The guard later revealed he used to be in a dark place but is hopeful performances like Tuesday's can relaunch his stalled career.
"A year ago today, I was expecting and waiting for my next surgery," Oladipo said. "I remember a year ago today, around this time last year, I was sitting in a dark room by myself and just broke down.
"Not because I quit, but because I was at the lowest point I could be at. And now, God has put me in this position today so I just made the most of it.
"There's nothing I can't handle. There's nothing I haven't gone through. At the end of the day, I feel like I can come back and get through anything. So when they told me I needed to start tonight, I just stepped up to the plate and did everything I could to help my team win... this is only the beginning."
Fellow reserve Strus, who went undrafted in 2019 and played just two games for the Chicago Bulls before being cut a year later, also stepped up, contributing 15 points.
Centre Adebayo took pride with a solid defensive performance that restricted Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young to just 11 points, saying: "We knew it was going to be a fight to the end, we just had to finish it with our defence. Defence wins championships."
In the West, Ja Morant scored a gravity-defying last-gasp lay-up as the Memphis Grizzlies conjured an epic late fightback to stun the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-109 for a 3-2 first-round series lead.
Memphis can eliminate their opponents with a win in Game 6 in Minnesota tomorrow.
The Phoenix Suns, who had the best regular-season record and are the top seeds in the West, returned to winning ways with an emphatic 112-97 win over New Orleans in Arizona to take a 3-2 series lead. The Pelicans must avoid a home loss today to avoid an early exit.
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