Victor Oladipo’s Defense Gives Miami Heat A Boost In Game 3 Victory

Oladipo made his presence known in Game 3 against the Celtics

Victor Oladipo finished with five points, zero rebounds and one assist in the Miami Heat’s 109-103 win against the Boston Celtics.

But it was more than just his stats.

With Jimmy Butler out the second half with a knee injury, Oladipo was placed in the starting lineup and became one of the heroes for the Heat. The former All-Defensive player had four steals, which contributed to a franchise-record 19 turnovers for the Heat.

Victor Oladipo had 4 steals tonight, playing incredible defense.

He had twice as many steals as the Celtics as a team. pic.twitter.com/qALwIj0zEt

— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 22, 2022

Oladipo guarded Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. While Brown scored 40 points, he had six turnovers in the second half. Meanwhile, Tatum had zero field goals and six turnovers in the second half when Oladipo checked in. His defensive presence created opportunities to produce 33 points off turnovers. 

While Oladipo’s performance may not look like much, his teammates praised his effort.

“It’s usually his offense everybody talks about,” Heat forward P.J. Tucker said. “He comes in with a spark. But his lateral slides and quickness were unbelievable. I told him tonight that was some of the best lateral foot speed I’ve seen anybody have. Jaylen Brown can score and he’s tough to get back in front of, so for Vic to square him up is unreal. He gave us a spark.”

Head coach Erik Spoelstra also weighed in to discuss Oladipo’s adjustments in the second half.

“He’s just steady,” Spoelstra said. “He stays the course, he’s made himself available and he’s made himself vulnerable through this whole process. He’s prepared behind the scenes, and his minutes in the second half were so important. Defensively against their two studs, and offensively he gave us a facsimile of a lot of the stuff that we do with Jimmy.”

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.