Even when he doesn’t play him late, when the shots aren’t falling, when the outside noise is calling for Max Strus or Victor Oladipo or Tyler Herro or seemingly anyone or everyone else to start, Erik Spoelstra has his reasons not to relent when it comes to Duncan Robinson.

He appreciates how Robinson makes the Miami Heat unique when he is on the floor. And how it is unique elements that can make teams unique.

So, no, not relenting.

As it is — as Spoelstra expected during the uneven early stages of the season — the 3-point percentage has come around.

But, Spoelstra said, it was never about the percentage.

“It’s about the actions and being assertive and creating movement for us,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat facing the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at FTX Arena. “That part of our menu is different than the rest of our menu. And it is important because it gives us that diversity. It also gives us different coverages, where teams tend to scramble and overreact a little bit more. And that tends to open up things for other guys.

“We just had to stay the course with it and understand that misses are a part of it. But regardless of even when he was missing, our offensive trending when he was on the court was still great.”

As it is, Robinson stands ninth among NBA players in 3-pointers made. But of the 35 players who have made at least 150, his .370 percentage places him only 21st. His current percentage would be the lowest since he became a rotation player, behind his .446 of two seasons ago and his .408 of last season.

But as long as his shooters shoot, Spoelstra said, the rest falls into place.

“And that’s the most important thing,” he continued. “A lot of people get confused by that, whether the ball goes in or not. All the best shooters in this league, you go through spells during the season, where no matter how much you work on it or if you’re getting clean looks or you’re in a rhythm, sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. But you have to stay with it.”

Through it all, Robinson kept shooting, almost always an initial look coming as the Heat cycle through their offense. Through it all, opponents kept the focus on Robinson.

“It would have really hurt us, and we would have had way more tough conversations if he started passing them up,” Spoelstra said. “Which he didn’t.”

Robinson, Spoelstra said, has been a quick study in that regard.

Spoelstra? Not quite as quick a study, at least at the start of his coaching tenure.

Yes, he admitted, there were times when the reaction to misses was uncomfortably similar to the groans from the stands during the toughest of Robinson times.

“For sure,” Spoelstra said of learning to move beyond the makes and misses of shots taken by the right players at the right times from the right spots. “How many mistakes did I make early on in my career? I remember telling Mike Miller once, after he missed a few shots, the next time I’m, ‘Make the next one!’ “

Spoelstra grimaced at the memory.

“It’s just the worst thing you can tell a shooter, he acknowledged. “I know that. And just like the young coach, all you do is make mistakes and you try to learn from ‘em.”

Spoelstra did not say if Miller made the next one.

But that wasn’t his point.

“I think by the time we got to the playoffs, it was like just let everybody be who they are, somehow get guys to their strengths and not say stupid stuff like that,” he said with a deprecating laugh. “But I think the more experience you have, you just see a lot more, you see how these trends, good or bad, do not last forever.

“And you’ve just got to stick with your principles and stay true to them regardless of the result.”

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