Heat HC Spoelstra: 'I Didn't Have the Foresight' to Start Kevin Love Before Game 2

The Miami Heat's selfless culture again reared its head Sunday night, when coach Erik Spoelstra made the risky call to bench Eastern Conference Finals hero Caleb Martin in favor of Kevin Love.

The strategy paid off.

Love finished with six points, a team-high 10 rebounds and provided Spoelstra a second big body to play against Denver's taller starting five.

"I didn't have the foresight (to start Love in Game 1), I didn't," Spoelstra told reporters after the game. "That's on me."

Nikola Jokić (6'11"), Michael Porter Jr. (6'10") and Aaron Gordon (6'8") are all bigger-bodied players in the Nuggets frontcourt and had their way against the 6'5" Martin during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Martin narrowly missed out on winning Eastern Conference Finals MVP, falling one vote behind teammate Jimmy Butler after averaging 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 48.9 percent from three-point range. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds in Miami's Game 7 win in Boston.

"We had to make an adjustment in that Boston series and that really was necessary and it worked," Spoelstra said. "Then we're facing a new opponent that we don't really know, and so we just went with what finished that previous series. But we have been 10-4, 11-4 now with this lineup. Clearly, we needed that size and veteran experience and physicality that K-Love brings."

It's a testament to all parties involved—both Martin and a borderline future Hall of Famer in Love—that they've been able to play selfless basketball and understand the matchup-dictating lineups Spoelstra's rolled out.

It's also a testament to Spoelstra's coaching acumen to understand the needed adjustment.