Kevin Love Coming Off Bench Could Become Norm For Miami Heat

Miami Heat forward Kevin Love and coach Erik Spoelstra had a conversation back in February detailing the expectations.

Love told Spoelstra his exact intentions.

"I told him that even before I got here, I'm not tripping about starting, coming off the bench," Love said. "I would just love to play minutes extremely hard and try to make an impact."

Love may have found his perfect role with the Heat during Saturday's win against the Dallas Mavericks. After starting the last two months, he produced 18 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes in his first game off the bench. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Max Strus.

"It's not challenging because K-Love always has been about winning," Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. "As long as we win, he's not going to complain. nobody is going to complain. whether it's the last four games of the season or the last 24 games of the season, he's always been about winning. If that helps us win, that's what he's going to do and he's not going to complain about it."

The move was made because the absence of injured center Bam Adebayo. Spoelstra said it worked so well he may continue to use it the remainder of the regular season.

"Kevin, I just can't say enough about his professionalism," Spoelstra said. "With Bam out, this team is super small with a lot of different shooting. We went with a different starting lineup and that might be the way we go the next four games. These are playoff games for us. We'll just do the lineup, whatever is necessary. But (Love) totally gets it. He gave us a great spark off the bench."

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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