QUINIX Sport News: Winderman’s view: Heat school Celtics as part of productive learning experience

BOSTON — Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 124-103 victory over the Boston Celtics:

– Yes, the goal is greater than learning experiences.

– And, yes, victories are paramount at this stage.

– But it sure helps going forward to know what you have going forward.

– That’s what made this one matter regardless of result.

– Pelle Larsson? Willing to stand up defensively to the likes of Jayson Tatum.

– Kyle Anderson? Still can slow play his way to meaningful scoring.

– Davion Mitchell? Won’t back down (even if that can be to his detriment).

– Bit players in the bigger Heat picture?

– Sure. but every team needs contributing role players.

– Particularly when confidence wanes with Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

– So, yes, in the midst of all the emotion of Wednesday night, still a learning experience.

– And a meaningful one for whatever comes next in the next iteration of Erik Spoelstra’s team.

– With Andrew Wiggins and Duncan Robinson again out, the Heat for the third consecutive game opened with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware, Alec Burks, Tyler Herro and Larsson.

– With Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford out for Boston, the Celtics opened with Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Luke Kornet.

– With Mitchell back, Spoelstra got back to a first substitution of Mitchell and Highsmith entering together.

– Mitchell was back after missing Monday night’s victory in Washington with a stomach illness.

– “I kind of felt it in the morning time. But what really did it is when I got on the bus,” he said of Monday’s trip to the arena. “It really started coming out, I started throwing up and I was like I can’t do it. You know what, I tried, but I just couldn’t do it.”

– He said he was not surprised teammates stepped up.

– “Honestly, I just think that anybody on this team, anybody on the bench, can play really heavy minutes on any other team,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s how good we are. We just have really good players.”

– The Heat rotation then was altered when Spoelstra lost a challenge with 5:37, leaving Adebayo with a second foul and a seat on the bench.

– Anderson then entered as the Heat’s third reserve.

– At one point in the opening period, that had the Heat with an unlikely playoff-race lineup of Ware, Highsmith, Anderson, Mitchell and Larsson.

– Even with the game the start of a back-to-back set, Spoelstra kept the rotation tight early.

– So no Rozier or Jaquez.

– Spoelstra smiled pregame when asked about having coached several Celtics in his role as an assistant with USA Basketball.

– “I mentioned to all of the Celtics from that summer, I hated myself for actually liking them,” he said. “And then admitting it, I hated myself even more. Just quality human beings, great competitors, great basketball players.”

– Going into the game, Spoelstra said the connection within the team has been strong amid this drive to regain footing in the standings.

– “Even when we were going through those tough times, you felt like the process was getting better and the connection was getting better, where we felt like we were competing for each other and competing for something bigger than each individual,” he said after the morning shootaround.

– He continued, “Enjoying somebody else’s success and pouring life into someone else is such a big karma mover, and we needed to get the karma moving in our direction. And the guys enjoy it, they enjoy the whole experience better. I think everybody is able to see we’re able to compete at a collective level higher when those things are happening.”

– With the Celtics hoisting 3-pointers at a record pace, Spoelstra said such is the reality of today’s NBA.

– “There are other teams also that are playing similarly to that,” Spoelstra said. “They just do it more efficiently than most teams. So it’s not only that they’re getting the volume, but they hit the timely ones in those inflection moments during the course of the game.”

– He added, “I think they probably do that better than most teams. And you have to extend your defense appropriately to try to take that away.”