Heat’s Erik Spoelstra: Injuries Not to Blame for Celtics Loss with Jimmy Butler Out

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVMay 2, 2024

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Erik Spoelstra isn’t looking to make excuses.

“We’re not going to put this on the fact that we’ve had some injuries,” the Miami Heat head coach told reporters after Wednesday’s 118-84 loss to the Boston Celtics. “Let’s not take anything away from Boston. They’ve been the best team in basketball all season long and in this series in four of the games.”

Bally Sports Sun: HEAT @BallyHEATHeat head coach Erik Spoelstra addresses the media in the aftermath of Wednesday’s game 5 elimination loss in Boston. 🎙 pic.twitter.com/vOdwfTceUx

Boston clinched the first-round series win in five games with the latest victory, but this was far from the version of the Heat that stunned the Celtics in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier missed the entire series, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. was out for the decisive Game 5. Miami was already facing a daunting challenge going up against the Eastern Conference’s top seed even at full strength, so the loss of Butler in particular made advancing almost an impossible task.

The Celtics weren’t at full strength either with Kristaps Porziņģis sidelined for Wednesday’s contest, but they also had far more firepower on their roster.

That was on full display in Game 5 as Derrick White posted 25 points in support of Jayson Tatum (16 points) and Jaylen Brown (25 points).

Injuries would have been a perfectly valid excuse for Spoelstra given the reality of the situation, but he instead chose to credit a Boston team that is in championship-or-bust mode.