Duncan Robinson’s story of perseverance with the Miami Heat: ‘This journey is not linear’

The Miami Heat’s playoff run will soon be coming to an end one way or another.

The Heat’s run to the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed is improbable and historic, producing moments and performances over the last two months that won’t be forgotten any time soon. But now the Heat is one loss away from that run coming to an end, as it faces what looks to be a nearly insurmountable 3-1 series deficit to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.

The Heat will look to stave off elimination in Game 5 on Monday in Denver (8:30 p.m., ABC). But whether the Nuggets finish the Heat on Monday or not, Miami’s playoff push won’t end without a redemption story.

Duncan Robinson, whose role and minutes fluctuated throughout the regular season, has been a consistent contributor in the playoffs and has re-established himself as one of the league’s best three-point shooters this postseason. After shooting just 32.8 percent on 4.6 three-point attempts per game in up-and-down playing time this regular season, Robinson has shot an ultra-efficient 44.5 percent on five three-point attempts per game in the playoffs.

“It’s very gratifying,” Robinson said to the Miami Herald of his playoff production after a rough regular season. “I think the biggest aspect of it is just developing the resolve and confidence and knowing that you can go through stretches where you feel like nothing has kind of gone your way, your back is against the wall and nothing can kind of break right for you, and you can still find a way to get out and persevere.”

Three-point shooting has been at the center of the Heat’s playoff success and Robinson has been at the center of the Heat’s hot three-point shooting this postseason.

Even after shooting just 31.7 percent from three-point range over the last two games, the Heat still holds an NBA-best team three-point percentage of 38.6 percent during this year’s playoffs. Among those who averaged at least five three-point attempts per game and played in more than six playoff games this year, Robinson owns the league’s third-best three-point percentage behind only Phoenix’s Devin Booker (50.8 percent) and Boston’s Derrick White (45.5 percent).

“When you look at my career, I’ve had a lot of setbacks,’ Robinson said. “It’s kind of like the story of my career, to be honest. Setbacks followed by breakthroughs followed by setbacks. I think I’ve learned over time to trust it and know that this journey is not linear. Any one who tells you that it is is wrong or lying to you. If you can embrace those moments, those kind of downturns, the reward waiting on the other side is worth it.”

The last two years have been anything but linear for Robinson, who was a full-time Heat starter in the previous three seasons before Max Strus replaced him in the starting lineup late last regular season. Robinson remained in the Heat’s rotation as a reserve immediately after the change but then completely fell out of the rotation in the second round of the playoffs before logging sporadic minutes off the bench in the Eastern Conference finals.

Last season’s sudden role change helped prepare Robinson for more inconsistent playing time this season.

This regular season, Robinson made only one start and logged 20 or more minutes in 17 of his 42 appearances. After injuries sidelined Heat guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo early this postseason, Robinson stepped into a bigger role to reach the 20-minute mark in 12 of his 22 appearances during this year’s playoffs.

Also, there were 13 games this regular season that Robinson didn’t play in despite being healthy and available in part because of his limitations on the defensive end. He has played in every game during the Heat’s playoff run.

“I’m far from a perfect human and we’re all competitive and we have stretches were we get down on ourselves,” Robinson, 29, said. “I’m somebody that’s incredibly tough on myself, especially when things aren’t going well. Yeah, I think having gone through that [last season], I think this year I have a little bit more perspective and just a little bit more appreciation for the opportunity and not getting so caught up with what it looks like. But just that there is opportunity and I have the chance to make the most of it.”

Robinson has not only made the most of his opportunity this postseason, he has also flashed an improved offensive game that includes more counters for opponents trying to run him off the three-point line. He has had numerous drives to the basket in the playoffs that have resulted in either a layup or an assist, and has made timely off-ball cuts to the basket to create some easy points for himself.

At 6-7, Robinson has also become a solid finisher around the rim. He’s 20 of 24 (83.3 percent) from within the restricted area during this year’s playoffs.

“I was doing everything I can behind the scenes to be prepared for an opportunity,” Robinson said. “That was really the goal, whether it was an opportunity that would present itself here or just I wanted to better myself for the sake of my career in general and who I was as a player.”

But it’s still Robinson’s three-point shooting and the space that skill creates for others that has helped earn him consistent minutes in the playoffs.

Even when including this season’s regular-season struggles, Robinson is still shooting 39.9 percent on 7.4 three-point attempts per game for his NBA career. Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and Indiana’s Buddy Hield are the only other three players in league history who have shot better than 39 percent from deep on seven or more three-point attempts per game in their NBA careers.

That historically great shooting is what earned Robinson a five-year, $90 million contract from the Heat in the 2021 offseason. But that contract also led to relentless scrutiny, especially when Robinson’s three-point shooting percentage fell below expectations and he fell out of the rotation,

“You know it’s an aspect of this profession and you see it before it happens in the sense of other people,” Robinson said. “There’s precedent for it. So it’s not like it came as a surprise. And quite honestly, when you’re going through that, I would say for me the internal want and need to perform is way greater than the external.

“But with that being said, anybody that says that they just tune that stuff entirely out is probably lying. So you learn to kind of wrestle with it and you get hardened by it. It’s way less of a thing now for me than it was. But of course, everybody wants to feel like they’re playing up to their value and all that sort of stuff. So in that sense, it definitely is challenging.”

Robinson went to former Heat teammate Ryan Anderson to help him through that. Anderson was traded to the Heat in February 2019 before he was waived and stretched by the Heat a few months later in the offseason to get below the hard-cap apron in order to complete the deal that brought Jimmy Butler to Miami.

“I talk to Ryan all the time still today,” Robinson said. “He’s one of my closest friends that I’ve made in this profession. He was one of the few people who could quite literally speak to having struggles in the playoffs and being out of a rotation and kind of wrestling and dealing with that. Not to put him in blast, honestly, he was incredibly instrumental in helping me process that. He was giving me advice on how to deal with it, but also empathizing with it.”

With the Heat facing a salary-cap crunch this upcoming offseason, there’s no guarantee that Robinson will be on the Heat’s roster next season as the team likely will have to shed salary in some capacity. But through all of the uncertainty surrounding his role and place on the team, Robinson never thought about requesting a trade this season.

“Look, I’m very much a do your job type of person,” Robinson said. “When somebody is paying you to do your job, you show up and do your job. If that’s sitting on the bench and clapping my ass off, I’m going to do that. On top of that, doing everything I can behind the scenes to be prepared for an opportunity.”

That opportunity has come in the playoffs.