Last week, when asked whether he would bypass taking some of his players to Toronto for Sunday night’s game against the Raptors due to the requirement to test for COVID when crossing the border, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summarily dismissed the notion.
Sunday, Spoelstra was away from the team due to NBA health-and-safety protocols. Spoelstra had been one of the few NBA coaches yet to test positive for coronavirus this season.
The Heat declined to specify the particular reason for Spoelstra’s absence.
As a requirement for re-entry into the United States, the Heat were subjected Sunday to a round of testing. The NBA has otherwise gone without testing in recent weeks unless a member of the traveling party is symptomatic.
It is the second time in nine days assistant coach Chris Quinn has filled in for Spoelstra, who missed the team’s March 26 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena during to a medical procedure for one of his two young sons.
“It was actually very similar timing to last week,” Quinn said 90 minutes before Sunday’s opening tip. “It’s been a few hours. Obviously it was a quick turnaround from last night, and basically it was just getting into the prep, getting ready for today.
“But, yeah, very similar timing as the last time. Just been a few hours where I had to move over one seat on the bench.”
Spoelstra had missed two games prior to this season since taking over as coach in 2008, both times for the births of his sons, with the Heat also losing both of those games.
Quinn found himself coaching a shorthanded roster, with the Heat holding out Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Dewayne Dedmon and Gabe Vincent on the second night of the back-to-back set that opened with Saturday night’s victory over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
“It all goes into it,” Quinn said of the rest factor, with Butler, Tucker, Dedmon and Vincent all listed with nagging ailments. “Obviously it was a hard-fought game [Saturday] night, with travel. And also going forward, trying to make the best decisions for the players.”
The Heat are idle Monday and then host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.
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