The Boston Celtics struggled without Kristaps Porzingis (illness) on Wednesday, as the Miami Heat upset them 124-103 on the road. While the Heat (35-41) aren’t having their best season after trading Jimmy Butler at the deadline, they’re always competitive with Head Coach Erik Spoelstra at the helm.
The 54-year-old has won two championships with the franchise as head coach and one as an assistant in 2006. He’s led them to six NBA Finals appearances in total.
Spoelstra has also faced the Celtics in the playoffs numerous times. Miami lost to them in the first round last year, beat them in the conference finals in 2023, lost to them in the same round the year before, and beat them in that round in 2020, just to name a few examples.
That’s why he can’t stand his admiration for their stars.
Spoelstra described his reaction to coaching Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White on Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“The entire experience was an incredible blessing. I mentioned to all of the Celtics that summer [that] I hated myself for actually liking them. And then, admitting it, I hated myself even more. They’re just quality human beings, great competitors, great basketball players.”
“I have the utmost respect for Derrick; he’s a winning player,” he continued. “Now he’s doing things that the rest of the people recognize, but the people who’ve competed against him realized pretty quickly the last 10, 12 years how much he impacts winning. And that’s way more than just the three-point shooting.”
White broke Boston’s franchise record for single-season made three-pointers on Monday’s 117-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies with 246, surpassing Isaiah Thomas’s previous record of 245 from 2016-17. He’s now at 249 after Wednesday.