Ultimate deterrence might not be an abstract for the Miami Heat when it comes to getting defensive in the playoffs.

But, for now, it largely stands as just that.

Among the permutations available to coach Erik Spoelstra are potential closing lineups that feature elite defenders at each position.

Among the possibilities are closing with Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker, Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo and Kyle Lowry.

Or, perhaps, Adebayo, Tucker, Butler, Lowry and Caleb Martin.

And if the desire is to switch everything with requisite length, perhaps Adebayo, Tucker, Butler, Martin and Oladipo.

With Oladipo in the second week of his return from May arthroscopic knee surgery, the Heat have yet to get to such a defensive grouping where he is included. And while the Heat in two games this season have gone with a lineup of Adebayo, Tucker, Butler, Martin and Lowry, that quintet has played less than one total minute together.

So intriguing, but untested.

“It depends on the matchup,” coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the possibility. “It depends on how the series is going. Inevitably, you’re not going to be able to play with one scheme. The teams and the players are just way too talented. And we do have a few different schemes that we worked throughout the course of the year that we’ve gained confidence in. And we’re going to need all of them.

“Yeah, there will be times we’ll potentially be able to switch one through five. We do that pretty regularly. But then there’s some guys you just won’t be able to do that, regardless of the five you put out there. But we’ll just continue to work our habits defensively and hopefully be ready for any kind of competition that can come your way.”

While Spoelstra has worked with considerable defensive depth over the years, including the likes of All-Defensive players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier and Butler at his disposal, this arguably is the first time that there is such a concentration of defensive excellence on his roster.

To Lowry, such lineups would not necessarily put the Heat at a deficit on the opposite end.

“I feel like we still could score with whatever units we put out there,” he said ahead of Friday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at FTX Arena. “I mean, at the end of the day, defense wins championships and that’s what we’ve got to be prepared for, is being a defensive-mind team.”

With Lowry listed at an even 6 foot, an argument could be made that the switch-everything approach would be limited with the aforementioned all-defensive lineups featuring Lowry.

That is where Spoelstra begs to differ.

“The guys are pretty sharp about it, too,” Spoelstra said of the other defenders helping cover for Lowry in such situations. “When you get the right veterans out there, Bam, they know how to bump ‘em out, where he doesn’t necessarily always have to wrestle with the big. But it’s one of his big-time strengths, too, is his versatility defensively.

“In the history of the game, I don’t know if you can point to another point guard his size that can defend as many positions. I feel, and likely he, as well feels, just as comfortable of him on a big four as I would on a point guard or a two. He has a history of being able to do that.”

Just the vision of Lowry taking on the challenges of wrestling with 7-footers brought a smile to Adebayo’s face about going to such a defensive alignment.

“I mean, it definitely makes all of us trust the defense more, in my opinion,” he said. “It makes us trust our scheme, the fact that he’s willing to sacrifice, getting down there and battling with 7-footers, and actually come out victorious.”

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