Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on Thursday downplayed his team's injury report going into Friday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and then shoved aside any outside opinions of his team's chances.
Spoelstra said "status is the same" for guard Goran Dragic, who has missed the past three games with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot. Dragic was listed as "doubtful" on the Heat's most recent injury report.
"He went through the film session and that was the bulk of what we did," Spoelstra said of the team's afternoon session at Disney World.
As for center Bam Adebayo having said he was less than 100% in Tuesday's Game 4 loss that dropped the Heat to a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series after missing two games with a neck strain, Spoelstra said, "Bam is going to be just fine (Friday)."
"I'm not getting into percentiles," Spoelstra said. "His full competitive spirit will be ready to go."
Adebayo admitted Thursday he initially was "hesitant" in Game 4, until he spoke with teammate Jae Crowder.
"Jae came up to me after I got the first layup," Adebayo said, "he's like, 'Take your mind off of it, it's over. You're out there now.' Just locking into that, you forget about it. So I forgot about it."
As for his team's imposing odds, Spoelstra spelled out a four-letter expletive about not caring "what anyone else thinks" when addressing what he called "a lot of different narratives out there."
"Whatever the storylines that are out there, we don't care," he said. "Our guys are the ones who are out there in the arena marred by dust, blood, sweat and tears."
Forward Jimmy Butler said the Heat are not ready or preparing to check out of their Disney hotel, where they have spent the past three months in the NBA's quarantine bubble setting.
"We all believe that we can get this thing done," he said. "Ain't nobody going home yet.
"It's not win or go home; it's win or win," he said. "That's how we think about it."
Adebayo seconded the notion.
"Everybody is doubting us," he said. "But as long as the people in the locker room and all our coaching staff have belief in us, that's all that matters."
