The playoffs opened with Gabe Vincent earning the Trae Young seal of approval.

“He’s a smart player,” Young said after Vincent and the Miami Heat ousted his Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. “It’s more about his cerebral ability, I can just tell, playing against him.”

Long before that, Vincent had won the seal of approval from coach Erik Spoelstra, given 27 regular-season starts.

And now, here the third-year guard stands again, placed in a position of leadership, as Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry remains out for the start of the second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I mean whenever I walk in our locker room and look at the guys around me, I don’t ever really feel at a disadvantage,” Vincent said, 25, of the challenges presented by a veteran 76ers cast that includes James Harden. “Especially when I’m on the court, I know who’s behind me. There’s no disadvantage felt. It’s just another challenge.”

Ideally, Lowry would be leading and Vincent following. Instead, the hamstring Lowry strained April 22 still has him sidelined, as the Heat moved into Monday’s Game 1 against the 76ers at FTX Arena in the opener of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Heat won the final two games against the Hawks with Vincent as their starting point guard.

But that was then, Vincent said. Now, new challenges.

“Each series is different,” he said. “I expect a completely different turn of events. Each game will be different. You just have to approach it that way.”

While Lowry can’t initially be alongside, he can be in Vincent’s ear. And will be, which has been welcomed, particularly by Spoelstra.

“I can’t even necessarily point to exact things,” Spoelstra said of the Lowry lessons being offered. “It’s just, you have a Hall of Fame point guard and savant and mind. I’m learning a lot from Kyle. I just really enjoy seeing his thought process, a lot of different parts of that game.

“But if you’re a young point guard like Gabe or combo guard, you love this opportunity to be able to learn from one of the greats. And, also, it’s a really cool relationship. Kyle wants to give. He wants to see Gabe play well.”

That, of course, is never truer than now, needing Vincent to hold things down until Lowry can return.

“Kyle has really mentored him,” Spoelstra said, “so I think that’s like expedited all the development that we started with him. And it was like on steroids once Kyle got here and put his arms around Gabe.”

The lessons also created an appreciation for veteran savvy, as Vincent makes the move from Young to potential matchup against the savviness of Harden.

“Outside of them both being great scorers, I don’t know if I’d say there’s too many similarities,” Vincent said. “James has been doing this for a long time. He’s seen a lot of different actions. He’s bigger, he’s stronger. They’re both great passers. They both present different challenges.”

A concern with the Heat in recent years has been the lack of polished depth at point guard. That factored into the equation in the 2020 NBA Finals when Goran Dragic was injured. And it was a question when this season began, particularly with Lowry turning 36 in March.

Since then? Asked and answered, with Lowry helping push Vincent to a higher level, in this first season on a standard contract, after two on two-way deals.

The last time Lowry mentored to this degree, the Toronto Raptors wound up with an All-Star in Fred VanVleet, with VanVleet taking over this season in Lowry’s place.

“I can see the comparisons that people probably will make on the outside,” Spoelstra said, “Kyle mentoring a young point guard, VanVleet. And with Gabe, I think those are probably pretty valid.”

()