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Eastern Conference finals against Celtics prove eye opening for Heat’s Victor Oladipo

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For years, Victor Oladipo wondered. Now he knows: Life is different here.

No, not necessarily life with the Miami Heat, but rather life deep into the NBA playoffs.

Prior to the Heat’s playoff run, the veteran guard had never been out of the first round of the playoffs, and even then had appeared in only one three playoff series over his first eight seasons.

In 2017, he was part of an Oklahoma City Thunder team that lost 4-1 to the Houston Rockets in the first round.

In 2018, his playoff run with the Indiana Pacers was limited to a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round.

And in 2020, his Indiana Pacers were swept out of the first round in the Disney World quarantine bubble by the Heat.

He did not play in last season’s Heat’s 4-0 first-round sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, in the wake of his May 2021 quadriceps surgery.

“It’s just different. It’s self-explanatory. It speaks for itself,” Oladipo said ahead of Friday night’s Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. “You’re close to the Finals. In the Eastern Conference finals, everything’s harder, everything’s tougher. That’s pretty much it.”

Oladipo, who had his moments for the Heat this postseason, said it is a case of you don’t know until you know.

“Anything is different from the outside looking in,” he said. “Every perspective is different. I can give a perspective on your life, but I won’t really understand because I’m not in your shoes.

“I can look at the Eastern Conference finals and watch it from afar. But until I’m in it, I won’t really grasp the intensity and the feeling of actually being in it.”

The mere opportunity, the 30-year-old former All-Star said, had made this season’s ride particularly enlightening.

“It’s a lot harder all the time, basically being the difference,” he said. “My career, my first three years, I wasn’t even in the playoffs. One year I got a great first playoff experience and the year after that, I again lost in the first round. After that, I’ve just been hurt. But I’m glad to be here. I’m fortunate, blessed.”

Forward Max Strus, who spoke after Oladipo at Friday morning’s shootaround, agreed that you don’t know about the intensity of such a deep playoff run until you experience such a run.

“It’s a grind,” he said, with last season’s first-round sweep at the hands of the Bucks his only previous playoff experience. “You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about your team, you learn a lot about basketball.

“It’s a whole different type of basketball. You learn a lot from that.”

Advanced billing

There was little Heat reaction to Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green late Thursday night already declaring the Celtics as Eastern Conference champions ahead of Friday night’s Heat-Celtics Game 6.

Green told TNT after Golden State eliminated the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the Western Conference finals, “I’m gonna tell you who I think we’re gonna play. We’re gonna play Boston. That’s who we’re gonna play.”

Said Heat forward P.J. Tucker ahead of Friday’s game against the Celtics, “I don’t pay attention to anything, I don’t really watch TV. I kind of stay away from it all.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said just getting to a Game 6 of the East finals should be reason enough for such singular focus.

“These are moments you train for, that you practice for, that [you’re] working, sweating and grinding in July and September,” he said before Friday night’s game. “Then you do the six and a half months of the regular season. It’s for these moments. You’ve got to earn it. It’s not about all the dialogue and narratives out there, the wild swings and opinions.

“This is when you feel most alive. You’re put in a game like this where you’re on the brink.”

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