MIAMI — It was back to double duty Sunday for Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, with it still unclear when All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be able to return to duty for the Milwaukee Bucks in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
“We have to prepare for both teams again,” Spoelstra said ahead of Monday night’s Game 4 at Kaseya Center, in the series the Heat lead 2-1.
As in a Giannis-centric approach should Antetokounmpo make it back from the lower-back contusion sustained in the Heat’s Game 1 victory in Milwaukee. Or whether the Bucks will be without Antetokounmpo for a third consecutive game, with the teams splitting the two games in his absence.
Antetokounmpo worked on the main court at Kaseya Center with Bucks coaches Sunday prior to his team’s video session.
“We’ll continue to monitor him,” coach Mike Budenholzer told media Sunday. “He did some individual work today on the court and we’ll see how he feels from the session today and see how he wakes up tomorrow.”
Budenholzer said there would have to be a comfort between himself, Antotokounmpo and general manager Jon Horst and the team’s medical staff.
Antetokounmpo initially had been listed as doubtful prior to Game 2, before he was upgraded to questionable later that day. He was listed as questionable Saturday before not playing again. He then again was listed as questionable Sunday.
“He always wants to make himself available. He does everything to make himself available,” Budenholzer said. “He wants to play. But I think there’s also a maturity for Giannis and an understanding and a growth that we just respect, and I think he respects us.”
Spoelstra said both game plans come with respect for the totality of the Bucks’ roster.
“We respect the Bucks deeply,” he said. “We know what they’re capable of. And that’s with or without GA. You have to respect championship DNA. They have it. They have guys that have been through the battles, been through wars. It’s not like they’re going to get sick at sea because they’re down 2-1.”
Still sidelined for the Bucks is guard Wesley Matthews, who is listed as out again with a strained right calf.
Heat issues
Spoelstra and Heat forward Jimmy Butler on Sunday downplayed the bruised glute that limited Butler moving with an uneven gait before sitting out Saturday’s fourth quarter, when he was not needed because of the Heat’s lopsided lead.
“Jimmy looked like Jimmy, and he’s doing a lot of treatment,” Spolestra said Sunday.
Butler, who is listed as questionable for Monday, declined to comment on the injury.
Late in that game, Heat forward Caleb Martin took a jolt to his shoulder and was still feeling it Sunday.
“I definitely feel it,” he said Sunday. “It’s definitely a little uncomfortable. But I think a good day of treatment and I should be solid.”
Spoelstra said Sunday mostly was about treatment for his team.
“All of our guys emptied the tank yesterday, put a lot into that — physically, emotionally, mentally,” he said. “We want to recharge and have that kind effort again tomorrow night.”
Martin is not on the Heat injury report.
Listed as probable is center Bam Adebayo, with a strained left hamstring.
Lining it up
The Heat have started three different lineups through the series’ first three games, in part because of Tyler Herro’s broken hand and in part because of the Bucks’ size.
Because of the uncertainty with Antetokounmpo, Spoelstra was noncommittal about whether Kevin Love would remain a Game 4 starter after he started Game 3.
“There’s a lot of different levers to this,” he said. “With GA out, it creates something different. With Tyler out, it creates something different. Until you actually go through something you don’t really know necessarily what the best course of action is. We just felt this made the most sense to start out a little bit bigger, to try to protect the paint. rebound better, impose our will physically a little bit more.”
The Bucks have been starting sixth-man Bobby Portis in place of Antetokounmpo.
“This is what the playoffs are all about,” Spoelstra said. “When you’re in a long series, you’re always trying to see who can blink first and then who can impose their game more consistently.”
