Backcourt blues, Robinson’s skill growth, new Heat trade asset, more notes from NBA Finals

A 10-pack of Heat notes, with Miami in a 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals heading into Monday’s Game 5 in Denver:

▪ Even against average teams, it’s tough to win when your starting backcourt combines to score 12 points on 4 for 27 shooting over two games. Against a team as good as the Nuggets, it’s impossible.

Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have exceeded all expectations during their time with the Heat, and at least one of them - probably both - will need to snap out of mini-shooting slumps for Miami to have any chance to send this series to a Game 5.

Vincent has nine points on 3 for 16 shooting, including 1 for 10 on threes, over the past two games, while battling first half foul trouble in both.

Strus has three points, on 1 for 11 shooting, including 1 for 7 on threes, over the past two games and was yanked for good 4:25 into the third quarter of his 0 for 4, scoreless night in Game 4.

Strus looked despondent afterward.

Asked how tough he is on himself after these two games, Strus said: “Can you tell? I’m pretty disappointed. But sitting here and sulking about it is not going to do anything. Got to toughen up and bounce back. Look forward to the next opportunity and try to stay positive.”

Denver has been giving Heat shooters far less airspace since the start of Game 3. But Strus said his looks in Game 4 were “clean. Ball’s not going in. We’ll keep shooting.”

As for Vincent, Kyle Lowry said “Gabe’s been unbelievable this whole playoff run. Gabe is a tremendous basketball player. Our league is a make-or-miss league, and you have a guy in Jimmy Butler who is going to continue to pump confidence into him. I’m going to pump confidence into him. He’s going to come out and have a great game in Game 5.”

Caleb Martin said “this whole locker room” is particularly tough on themselves when they shoot poorly.

“You want to be playing your best ball this time of the year,” Martin said, when asked about Strus. “He’s one of the best shooters in the league. He’s got to continue to believe that. When he has an off night, he’s hard on himself. You have a game like that, of course it’s going to eat at him.”

With Strus and Vincent, there’s a financial component to this, too. They’re set to become unrestricted free agents, and though both assuredly will get significant deals here or elsewhere, final impressions are important.

Estimates from former NBA executive Bobby Marks (now with ESPN) and scouts have each player commanding at least $10 million a year in free agency, potentially more if a team really likes either. Because the Heat has Bird Rights on both, Miami isn’t limited in what it can play either, though signing both would result in a huge tax bill if salary isn’t dumped elsewhere.

▪ Robinson has made a case for more playing time; he shot 2 for 4 on threes on Friday and is now 49 for 110 on threes in postseason (44.5 percent). Robinson played 25 minutes and Strus 19 in Game 4. Strus could have a short hook in Game 5.

One of the underrated aspects of Robinson’s game is how he’s constantly in motion, like a bumblebee, cutting and weaving to the basket, then hitting a layup of a deft pass or drawing another defender, creating an open shot for someone else. ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins mentioned last week how important that element is to Miami’s offense. That’s something Robinson’s father emphasized to him as a youngster.

“Where I grew up [New England], the game is played a little bit differently,” Robinson said. “You can’t create as many one on one advantages and you need player movement, ball movement. It’s been ingrained in me early on and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been watching guys and the impact they can have moving off the ball.

“Ray Allen is a great example. And even today, you see what Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] do off the ball. JJ Redick, Kyle Korver. I learned and developed it over time.”

Does the unrelenting movement exhaust him?

“You get used to it,” he said. “The conditioning aspect is something you have to take care of behind the scenes.”

During these playoffs, Robinson has been running 2.11 miles per 48 minutes when the Heat’s on offense - best on the team.

What’s more, “he can put the basketball on the floor now,” Bam Adebayo said.

▪ No center defends wing players better than Adebayo, but Jamal Murray has managed that matchup better than any guard so far in these playoffs.

During this postseason, Jrue Holiday and Jalen Brunson were a combined 6 for 15 when Adebayo switched onto them in the first two rounds.

In the Eastern Finals, Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon and Marcus Smart were a combined 11 for 34 against Adebayo. Brown was 10 for 24, with four assists and eight turnovers.

But Murray is the first wing player in these playoffs to make even half his shots when defended by Adebayo; Murray is 13 for 26.

And Adebayo’s shooting is slumping against at a bad time; he’s 15 for 40 with seven turnovers in his past two games.

▪ At least a half dozen times this postseason, we’ve seen Martin corkscrew to the basket, tiptoe along the baseline and bank in a reverse layup. Even teammates sometimes do double-takes.

“Caleb has a unique combination of athleticism, speed and skill and when you combine those, it makes out to be a really good finisher,” Robinson said. “The way he does it is pretty unconventional, usually jumping off one foot and finding airspace to get it off. He’s done it all year.”

Martin said he has practiced those shots since childhood: “The first thing I do in the gym is work on doing flip shots, trick shots, tough shots. I’ve been working on that for the longest time.”

▪ Before Friday, the 6-0 Lowry somehow led the Heat in blocked shots this postseason with 13; Adebayo is now one ahead of him. “Leading the team in blocks at his height at our position is incredible,” Vincent said.

▪ The Heat will enter the offseason with its most tradable first-round picks in many years.

The Heat could conceivably offer as many as four first-round picks in trades, if it chooses, by doing two things: 1) picking a player for another team with the 18th pick in the June 22 Draft and 2) agreeing with OKC to waive the protections on the lottery-protected pick due the Thunder in 2025 or 2026.

If the teams agree that pick will be conveyed under any circumstances in 2026, then Miami could trade the player it chooses at No. 18 and first-round picks in 2024, 2028 and 2030. The 2030 pick can be traded only after the draft, because teams cannot trade picks more than seven drafts out.

Teams cannot trade picks before using the selections in consecutive years, but there’s nothing to prevent Miami from drafting a player for another team on June 22 and then trading its 2024 first-round pick, too.

In Damian Lillard’s case, the question is whether he asks for a trade -- or if Portland is willing -- before the draft. No trade involving Lillard can become official until July 9, due to his contract. But a deal can be informally agreed to before the draft.

▪ Former Miami Hurricanes guard Bruce Brown was big in Game 4, with 21 points on 8 for 11 shooting.

“Remember, when I first came in the league, I couldn’t shoot,” he said. “I wasn’t confident shooting the ball at all. I was a mutt guy. They left me wide open and let me shoot. So that took a toll on my confidence, but it put a chip on my shoulder. So I just got in the gym and worked, and now it’s showing on the biggest stage.”

▪ Adebayo is just 9 for 26 when defended by Nikola Jokic in the past two games. Jimmy Butler is 10 for 25 when defended by Jokic in this series.

When Aaron Gordon guards them, Adebayo is 5 for 10 and Butler 9 for 18, per NBA tracking data.

Gordon, incidentally, was a plus 29 in Game 4 -- best in an NBA Finals game in five years, per Justin Kubatko.

▪ Jokic was very complimentary of the Heat after Game 4. “That team did something amazing, and we know that they are capable for making history,” he said. “We respect them. I respect them a lot. We as a group are going to give them the respect that they deserve, and we’re going to play [Game 5] -- like the first game of the series, it’s a must-win for us.”

Jokic is averaging 30.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists in the Finals. He’s the third player to average at least 30 points and 10 rebounds through the first four Finals games of his career, joining Willis Reid and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

▪ The Heat has lost four consecutive home playoff games after winning six in a row at home.