Heat’s Spoelstra hints of lineup, rotation changes vs. Bulls in play-in

MIAMI — Caleb Martin was the final player off the Miami Heat’s practice court Thursday. The question now is whether he could be one of the first on the court when the Heat host the Chicago Bulls in a winner-take-all play-in game at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Considering Erik Spoelstra declines to reveal lineups when he speaks 90 minutes before games, there was no tell Thursday from the Heat coach.

Then again, perhaps there was.

“Yeah, you know, everything’s on board,” Spoelstra said when asked about possible lineup or rotation adjustments. “Every one of these things, that’s how I’m viewing it.”

The Heat twice have undergone significant lineup adjustments since the All-Star break, first replacing Martin with Kevin Love and then, more recently, moving Max Strus into the starting lineup in place of Love.

Tuesday night, the small-ball approach with Strus as the de facto power forward was exposed with the Heat outrebounded 63-39 in their 116-105 loss to the Atlanta Hawks that put them in this all-or-nothing position against the Bulls for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Against the Bulls, the insertion of Martin into the opening mix would give the Heat wing defenders in Martin and Jimmy Butler to match up with Chicago wing scorers DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. DeRozan is coming off a 23-point performance and LaVine a 39-point performance in the 109-105 road victory over the Toronto Raptors that elevated Chicago to this winner-take-all moment.

“This is going to have a different feel than Atlanta, for sure,” Spoelstra said. “I wouldn’t even just say the starters, but who we bring in off the bench might be a little bit different than what we used against Atlanta.”

Among the reasons the Heat made the move first to Love and then to Strus was improved floor spacing with 3-point shooting. That element could also be essential against the Bulls, who have elevated their defense by largely packing the paint and daring opponents to beat them over the top.

“I think one of the most underrated aspects of what they did this season is build a very stable top-of-the-league type defense,” Spoelstra said. “Since the All-Star break they have the number-one defense. But seasonlong, they have the fifth-ranked defense, which is marked improvement from last year.”

The Heat shot just 11 of 34 on 3-pointers in Tuesday night’s loss to the Hawks.

Two regulars from the starting lineup missed practice Thursday, with Jimmy Butler away for personal reasons and guard Gabe Vincent, who took a knee to his back late in Tuesday night’s loss, bypassing the session.

Butler will be available for Friday’s game.

Vincent is listed as questionable with a right hip pointer

Asked how felt, as he watched teammates complete post-practice workouts, Vincent said, “Much better than I did in the moment, much better than I did in the moment. So we got progress.”

Vincent said in the interim he has received “a bunch of different treatments and exercises.”

As for an expectation of playing, Vincent said, “absolutely.”

Guard Kyle Lowry again is listed as questionable due to a sore left knee, as has been the case prior to each of the games he has played since returning March 11 from a month off due to that knee pain.

Again listed as out for the Heat is rookie big man Nikola Jovic, due to back spasms.

Heat two-way players Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson are ineligible for the postseason, but they continue to work with the team.

The only player on Chicago’s injury report is guard Lonzo Ball, who has missed the season due to knee surgery.

Contributing to the Bulls’ 3-0 season sweep of the Heat was an active defense that created 20 points per game off Heat turnovers.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball,” guard Tyler Herro said.

Center Bam Adebayo said it was about acute awareness.

“Make sure the ball doesn’t hit their hands when we pass,” he said. “I feel like that’s the easiest way to get out of it.”