NBA

'It wasn't scripted' – Spoelstra credits 'raw' relationship after Heat end Celtics' history bid

By Sports Desk May 30, 2023

Erik Spoelstra hailed the "intimate" and "raw" relationships within the Miami Heat's roster after his team overcame the Boston Celtics to reach the NBA Finals.

The Heat had squandered a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, but Game 7 went their way in emphatic fashion.

Jimmy Butler led Miami with 28 points as the Heat won 103-84, ending the Celtics' bid at history in the process.

Boston was aiming to become the first team to win a seven-game series after losing the opening three encounters, but it was not to be.

"It wasn't scripted," Spoelstra told reporters.

"When you have such an intimate relationship with a locker room and they have it with each other, the staff has it with them, they have it with the staff, sometimes it's just whatever's raw, whatever's real at that time.

"Professional sports is just kind of a reflection sometimes of life, that things don't always go your way.

"The inevitable setbacks happen and it's how you deal with that collectively. There's a lot of different ways that it can go. It can sap your spirit. It can take a team down for whatever reason.

"With this group, it's steeled us and made us closer and made us tougher.

"These are lessons that hopefully we can pass along to our children, that you can develop this fortitude.

"Sometimes you have to suffer for the things that you want. Game 6, the only thing that we can do is sometimes you have to laugh at the things that make you cry."

The Heat are only the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the Finals, after the 1999 New York Knicks.

Butler was named the Eastern Conference finals MVP, and has full confidence the Heat can go all the way against the Denver Nuggets.

"I just know why coach Pat [Riley] and coach Spoelstra wanted me to be here," Butler said. "That's to compete at a high level and to win championships.

"I know that the group that they put around me at all times is going to give me an opportunity to do so.

"I know the work that we all put into it, so I know what we're capable of. Nobody is satisfied. We haven't done anything. We don't play just to win the Eastern Conference; we play to win the whole thing."

Spoelstra reserved special praise for the Heat's talisman.

"There's no way to quantify the confidence that he can instil in everybody. Jimmy has never had to apologise," Spoelstra said of Butler.

"I don't want him to ever apologise for who he is and how he approaches competition. It's intense. It's not for everybody, and we're not for everybody.

"That's why we think it's like an incredible marriage. We never judge him on that. He doesn't judge us for how crazy we get. It's the same language. But the confidence level that he can create for everybody on the roster is incredible.

"He's gnarly, but he knows how to have a soft touch to give somebody some confidence at the right time. That's the special gift that he has."

Related items

  • Damian Lillard says farewell to Trail Blazers as he joins Bucks Damian Lillard says farewell to Trail Blazers as he joins Bucks

    Damian Lillard has posted an emotional farewell to the Portland Trail Blazers after joining the Milwaukee Bucks.

    The 33-year-old point guard, who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Blazers, officially requested his trade out of Portland earlier this summer.

    Lillard, whose 32.2 points average last season was the third highest in the NBA, told the Blazers’ fans on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I want to start off by saying this isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see you later.

    “My words have always been from the heart when it comes to you Rip City. I consider you my home as well as many of my family members and that won’t change.

    “I’ve built my entire adulthood here and made so many friends that I will never forget.

    “The moments on the basketball court as great as they have been don’t even compare to the experience I’ve had with all of you.

    “The way you embraced me from day one gave me no choice but to reciprocate the love a thousand times and I don’t regret it one bit.”

    Lillard, a seven-time All-Star and named among the NBA’s 75 greatest players of all-time in 2021, was traded to the Bucks on Wednesday as part of a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns.

    Lillard will team up with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo at the Bucks, who were quickly installed as favourites to win the NBA title next season.

  • Bucks confident of returning to the top after Lillard trade Bucks confident of returning to the top after Lillard trade

    Damian Lillard will be tasked with helping the Milwaukee Bucks return to the top of the NBA after his trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. 

    Star guard Lillard signed for the Bucks on Wednesday in a three-way trade – which also included the Phoenix Suns – that saw Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara on the move too.

    Lillard leaves Portland after 11 years with the Trail Blazers. He is a seven-time All-Star and enjoyed a career-best season in 2022-23, averaging 32.2 points and 7.3 assists, though he did sit out the final month of the season due to injury.

    Now, the Bucks – the 2021 NBA Champions – will be hoping that Lillard can combine with two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to push them towards another title, following a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the Miami Heat in last season's playoffs.

    Fast Fact

    Despite missing the last 10 games of the season, Lillard (1,866) was Portland's highest points scorer last term by over 500, with Anfernee Simons next best for the Trail Blazers with 1,306.

    Lillard a difference-maker

    "His character, competitiveness, talent and experience complement our group and gives us the best chance to win at the very highest level as we create new memories together," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said of Lillard.

    So, does Lillard have what it takes to make the difference for the Bucks?

    Lillard leaves Portland as a franchise great. He ranks first in team history in points and three-pointers and second in assists. Including the playoffs, he had 17 games with 50+ points for the Blazers. All other players in franchise history have only combined for seven 50-point games. He is a big-game player, and he should help ease the burden on Antetokounmpo.

  • Milwaukee Bucks trade for All-Star Damian Lillard Milwaukee Bucks trade for All-Star Damian Lillard

    Damian Lillard finally has a new team, though it's not the one the NBA world had been expecting.

    The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to send their franchise icon to the Milwaukee Bucks in a blockbuster three-team trade that also involves fellow star players Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton, ESPN reported Wednesday.

    Portland will receive Holiday from the Bucks and Ayton and rookie Toumani Camara from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Lillard, a seven-time All-Star who requested a trade this summer with the Trail Blazers in a rebuild.

    The Blazers will also get Milwaukee's unprotected 2029 first-round pick as well as the right to swap first-round selections with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030.

    Phoenix will receive veteran center Jusuf Nurkic and forwards Nassir Little and Keon Johnson from Portland, as well as guard Grayson Allen from Milwaukee.

    Lillard had expressed a preference to be dealt to the Miami Heat, but the Blazers were unable to work out a trade to his desired destination that would satisfy their requirements for multiple draft picks and young players to add to their young core of rookie point guard Scoot Henderson and second-year wing Shaedon Sharpe.

    The 33-year-old will instead be joining the team that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last season, but was dealt a stunning loss by the eighth-seeded Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

    Lillard joins two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton and first team All-Defensive Team centre Brook Lopez as the nucleus of a Bucks squad that will be considered one of the favourites in the East after finishing 58-24 last season.

    The trade, which is still awaiting league approval, also ends the 11-year tenure for arguably the most popular player in Trail Blazers' history. Lillard leaves Portland as the franchise's all-time leader in points (19,376) and three-point field goals (2,387), while his 5,151 assists rank second in team history.

    Lillard is also coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game and matched a personal best by shooting 46.3 per cent from the field, though a calf injury limited him to 58 games and he did not play after March 22.

    The Blazers' season didn't go nearly as well, as they finished 13th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record. Lillard's displeasure over the team's poor finish, plus its decision to keep its first-round draft picks instead of moving them for a win-now player, prompted him to formally issue a trade request in July.

    Holiday, who earned a second career All-Star nod in 2022-23, could be on the move again soon, as ESPN reports Portland is expected to field trade offers for the 33-year-old point guard after taking Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft.

    The 25-year-old Ayton figures to remain part of the Blazers' long-range plans with three seasons left on a four-year, $133 million extension he signed in 2022. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game last season and has averaged a double-double in each of his five NBA seasons.

    Phoenix gets a ready-made replacement for Ayton in Nurkic in addition to building needed depth to its star-laden core of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and offseason pickup Bradley Beal.

    Nurkic averaged 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds while starting 52 games for Portland last season. 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.