Heat’s Spoelstra stressing defense over lineups, rotations; Rockets’ Durant address the ‘roaches’
Even as his team at this late stage of the season works through rotation alterations that on Thursday night meant rolling out a 25th starting lineup in Game 70, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it has to be about more about the what than the who. “I think we’re OK with it,” Spoelstra said of the moving parts that again had forward Andrew Wiggins (toe) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (hip) out for Saturday night’s game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
“To be honest, we feel good about where we are as a group with our identity. We know how we want to play. I think that’s the most important thing.
“Who starts? You figure out the rotation from there. ” Saturday, further uncertainty entered the equation, with guard Norman Powell listed as questionable due to calf tightness, having recently missed seven consecutive games due to a groin strain.
“Everybody that’s mostly in the rotation right now has been consistently in the rotation,” Spoelstra said. “ How we want to play has been consistent all year. That’s the harder thing to accomplish.
” Putting the who and the what aside, the now for Spoelstra is about the how. “We have the fifth ranked defense, fourth depending on the day,” Spoelstra said. “But that has to show at the moments of truth, at the highest level of competition.
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