MIAMI — You start here: There is no Duncan Strus or Max Robinson.
Duncan Robinson and Max Strus, even with their games often defined by their 3-point shooting, are not the same player.
So when Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra last week altered his rotation, inserting Strus into the starting lineup in place of Robinson, it did make a difference beyond the four-game winning streak the Heat carried into Tuesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena.
“They are different players, so I want to be open to the possibilities of how it can look differently,” Spoelstra said in making the switch. “They’re both really important to our team, and I think it’s easy to put them in the same box. They’re not. But I just think, at this time, this made sense. But they’re both really important.”
Strus went into Tuesday having converted at least three 3-pointers in each of his last four starts, including seven in Sunday night’s victory over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. That put him 25th in the league in 3-pointers converted this season, at 20th in the NBA in 3-point percentage.
“I just got open looks and made ‘em,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
In that same game, Robinson went scoreless for the second time in eight days, his seventh scoreless appearance of the season. Robinson entered Tuesday eighth in the league in 3-point conversions, but 80th in 3-point percentage.
While Strus hardly is considered an elite defender, his play does offer an upgrade on that end. He also can be more forceful and physical at the rim.
Against the Boston Celtics, for example, Strus helped spark that victory, at the start of last week’s undefeated three-game trip, with his late-game defense. He went into Tuesday second on the team with his 15 charges taken only to Kyle Lowry’s 25.
“That has been a two-year process,” said Spoelstra, who remains away from the team after entering NBA health-and-safety protocols in Toronto on Sunday. “He’s really improved in seeing situations happen before they happen, getting to his spots earlier. It helps him be useful on the weak side.
“He also has some size where he can help out on the glass when he’s on the backside of your defense. Whether he’s rebounding or throwing his body into the mix, it helps.”
Spoelstra and the team are still offering similar praise for Robinson. But there also is a difference from a front-office perspective: Strus will again be on the veteran-minimum scale next season, arguably as cost effective as any player on the roster. Robinson is one year into a five-year, $90 million contract.
As for how it has been playing out on the court, Strus has separated himself with his play, while remaining respectful to what Robinson has delivered with a game that largely has been on the uptick over the second half of the season.
“It’s going to be similar, space the floor, make open shots,” Strus said when asked to compare his play to Robinson’s. “I think we’re still trying to figure out the rest, but I’m already comfortable with those guys, playing with Bam [Adebayo], playing with Jimmy [Butler], putting me the situations with ball screens and stuff like that, just to get guys downhill.”
The Heat entered Tuesday 12-2 this season with Strus as a starter, with Strus having led the Heat in scoring six times this season, putting him ahead of Lowry (3) and Robinson (5) in that category.
“I think we’re going to look at it every way that we could keep using me and get guys to their strengths,” Strus said. “I’m just here to help. I just want to make the game easy on everybody else. They’ve seen when I’m open, I’m gonna shoot and knock down shots, and just be there for the guys.”
