Heat, Celtics vary approaches after Game 1

By Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff

MIAMI — The Heat and Celtics took different approaches Tuesday after Game 1, but neither team strayed from their usual routine. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra put his team through a practice that ran about 45 minutes longer than scheduled Tuesday afternoon.

“We can play better,” said Spoelstra. “I think they feel the same way. The teams can
make adjustments, but it still comes down to those effort areas. … We weren’t as sharp as we had been in the two or three games before that. But that’s the playoffs. You have to find a way to survive and win. You have to do it when you’re not playing your best, like [Monday] night.”

Spoelstra specifically referred to his team’s 5-for-25 shooting from 3-point range as an area that needed improvement.

“A lot of those were good looks, clean looks, especially for the playoffs,” said Spoelstra. “But we still found a way to do things defensively.”

The Celtics, meanwhile, skipped practice like they usually do, watching film at the team hotel across town and then meeting the media afterward. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he started the film session by playing all 19 layups the Heat got in Game 1 on a loop.

“Who wants to watch that?” said Rivers. “I didn’t, and I watched it four or five times.”

Celtics players probably weren’t too keen on watching that. They also weren’t too keen on meeting the media on their off day. Kevin Garnett tried to walk through the ball room of the hotel without speaking to reporters before he was called back. He agreed with his coach that the Heat can’t be getting so many layups.

“Everything can’t be so simple and so easy,” said Garnett. “You have to put some kind of defensive impact into the game. You’re playing a team on the road, you’re trying to make it as uncomfortable as you can. You’re playing against two guys who are two of the best to ever play the game. You have to be cohesive … the margin is very, very small.”

Back at American Airlines Arena, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were wrapping up practice. Wade stood off to the side and spent a lot of time working on bank shots from impossible angles, shooting over a tall net that caught his shots and spit them back out at him. Wade put a backspin on every shot, showcasing his incredible touch.

James showed touch in a different way, deflecting away potentially inflammatory questions from the media. When asked about Garnett’s trash talk, James said, “We all know how KG is. He means no harm.”

When asked about matchups with Paul Pierce, then and now, James was laudatory.

“I didn’t used to be in the defensive side of things as much,” said James. “He’s a great player. You’ve just got to try and make him do things that he may not want to do. He’s going to make shots because of how good he is. He’s going to make plays. I just try to make it tough on him.”