Spoelstra drawing Daly comparisons

When Rothstein sees what Erik Spoelstra has done in Miami this season, he’s reminded of Daly.

Spoelstra has emerged again as a coach of the year candidate after engineering perhaps the surprise story in the league this season, a turnaround that has seen the Heat transform from having the 29th-best record in the 30-team NBA to one firmly in the postseason chase.

“The game is about the players, not about us,” said Rothstein, whose long coaching resume includes stints as an assistant under Daly in Detroit and under Spoelstra in Miami.

He’s been an assistant under Pat Riley, then had Spoelstra as his assistant during an interim-head-coach stint, and later worked on Spoelstra’s staff.

He’s now part of the Heat broadcasting team, and knew if there was a way to fix this season Spoelstra would come up with the answer.

When the Heat hit the midpoint of the season at 11-30, barely ahead of only woebegone Brooklyn in the NBA standings, a common perception was that Miami would be best served by tanking and trying to get the best draft pick possible.