Spoelstra expected back when Heat meet Cavaliers (Mar 26, 2018)
MIAMI -- The Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who meet Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, were without their head coaches this weekend.
The Heat were without Erik Spoelstra, who missed the first game of his NBA career. Spoelstra, 47, and his wife, Nikki, gave birth to a son, their first child.
Heat assistant Dan Craig took Spoelstra's place on Sunday as Miami lost 113-107 at the Indiana Pacers in overtime. Indiana scored 11 straight points in overtime, including two crucial 3-pointers by Darren Collison.
"To start the game, there was a little bit of an adjustment," Craig said of his role. "But once I got into it, I felt comfortable. The assistants did a great job helping me coach the game, and the players, too, in the huddles, staying together on the court."
Spoelstra is expected to return Tuesday, but the Cavaliers are still without coach Tyronn Lue, who took a leave of absence on March 19, citing chest pain.
Even so, the Cavaliers have won four straight games, including Sunday's 121-114 victory over the host Brooklyn Nets. LeBron James led the Cavs with 37 points.
"LeBron was once again spectacular," Cavs interim coach Larry Drew told the media.
The Cavs are trying to mesh quickly with a new coach and new players acquired just before last month's trade deadline, including Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, George Hill and Larry Nance Jr.
In addition, power forward Kevin Love has played just four games since missing six weeks with an injury.
On Sunday, Hill, who starts at point guard, had 17 points and five assists. Clarkson came off the bench to score 18 points. Hood contributed 16 points in a reserve role. Love, a starter, had 20 points and 15 rebounds. And Nance, who also started, had a quiet game with two points.
James mentioned several teammates in his postgame comments.
"Rodney, Jordan and Larry -- they all bring something different," James told the New York Post. "It works well for our team. When they get more comfortable with what we want to accomplish, we'll become better and better."
The Cavs (44-29) are in third place in the Eastern Conference, and what they are trying to accomplish is to get back to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year. They have won one NBA title during that span, in 2016.
Meanwhile, James' former team has lost two straight games and sits at 39-35, good for eighth place in the East. With eight games left in the regular season, the Heat are in good shape as far as making the playoffs.
But they are also facing a first-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors ... or possibly the Boston Celtics or the Cavs. The Heat would be heavy underdogs in any of those series.
As the lower seed, the Heat would have to win at least one road game to advance, and that might be difficult for Miami to accomplish. Of the Heat's past 12 road games, they have dropped 11.
At home, where they will host the Cavs on Tuesday, things have gone more smoothly as the Heat are 22-13 this season.
Miami will be a bit short-handed without center Hassan Whiteside, the team's primary rim protector and rebounder. He hasn't played since March 8 because of a hip strain.
The Cavaliers have several question marks on their roster with forward Jeff Green and 3-point specialist Kyle Korver.
Green missed the game against the Nets with the flu. Korver was away from the team because he missed the game because of a death in the family.
