Jae Crowder on Heat: ‘Our spirit is right, our head is right’

Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) looks on as Marcus Smart, center, struggles to maintain control of the ball against Miami Heat's Duncan Robinson, left, and Jimmy Butler (22) during the second half of an NBA conference final playoff basketball game, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) (Mark J. Terrill, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

ORLANDO – The Miami Heat are looking to bounce back from their first loss of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

The team lost to the Celtics 117-106 on Saturday night.

Recommended Videos



On Monday, the team returned to practice.

“Without giving too much away, it’s a chess match,” forward Jae Crowder said. “This is two good teams going head-to-head, this is two good coaches going head-to-head.”

Crowder said the game is about adjustments, but he did not want to give any specific plans away.

“Our spirit is right, our head is right, our energy is there, so I think we’re responding the right way,” he said. “We’re just trying to get better. We’re just trying to see how we can play a full 48-minute game.”

The Heat will hold a meeting on Monday night and continue to try to improve.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said the Celtics had a lot to say about the Heat’s loss on Saturday.

“Both teams are being tested the way you should be in the conference finals,” Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra said if the team doesn’t have the right focus, the game can turn on the team quickly like it did Saturday night.

Spoelstra said of the team’s defense, “You could see that formula, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that ain’t going to work. But again, it’s competition, they had something to say about that. They came out with great force off the dribble. They were driving and attacking in many situations and we didn’t do a great job with that.”

Game 4 is Wednesday night at 8:30.

The Heat lead the best-of-7 series 2-1.


Recommended Videos