3 Keys for the Miami Heat to Win Game Six

The Miami Heat pushed this series to six games after a huge win on Friday night. They are now two wins away from an NBA championship, so here’s what Miami will need to do in game six to force a game seven…

#1: Bam Adebayo will need to play like Bam Adebayo.

It’s pretty obvious that Miami needs an aggressive and energized Bam Adebayo to win basketball games, but that wasn’t exactly the case in game five. It could’ve had something to do with the fact that he’s not exactly 100%. But even a 70% Bam Adebayo is useful for this Heat team right now. They don’t necessarily need him to score 25 points, but they do need him to do the small things that he has done for them all season. Even the dribble hand-off, that they’ve used so much throughout this season, wasn’t used as much as they’d like throughout game five. And since Miami was rolling with Bam as their only big, he will need to be that energetic presence. There is no doubt that he won’t be, since that is just who he is, but if Bam can bring it, there’s a good chance they will be playing another game on Tuesday night.

#2: Miami’s ball-dominant players will need to help out Jimmy Butler.

Jimmy Butler has been scoring the ball at will in this finals run, mostly since he is stepping up when it is needed, especially with Goran Dragic out. Even though Jimmy will need to continue to do that, Miami’s other ball-dominant players will be essential to take a bit of the load off of him for stretches. That starts with Tyler Herro, who has the ability to take control of the offense through his play-making and his scoring. The only problem is that the Lakers’ defense has seemed to try and eliminate Tyler offensively, which is impressive for a rookie to put that much pressure on an opponent. Kendrick Nunn stepped up in the first half, which was exactly what Jimmy needed. Since Jimmy plays both sides of the ball so hard for 47 minutes, by running the offense on one end and guarding the best player in the world on the other end, he will need help. As mentioned, Tyler will need to find a way to take back the offense during spurts.

#3: Miami will need to continue their show-and-go defensive scheme against this Lakers team.

One thing that I noticed in game five was Miami’s defensive scheme seemed a little different. When LeBron James had the ball and had somebody setting a pick, Miami would switch and have Jimmy run over to double. This meant that a guy like Danny Green or Alex Caruso would be left open around the free throw area, with Bam Adebayo or Jae Crowder standing between the player at the basket and him. This is exactly what Miami needs to do, since you want to put the ball in the hands of the Lakers role players as much as possible, just like they did on the final possession in game five. Duncan Robinson has been quite a defensive liability, but this allows him to play more free. The only time it’s a little harder to do this is when Rajon Rondo is in the game, since if he gets the ball at the free throw line with one defender in front of him and a lengthy Anthony Davis by the rim, he will most likely make the right read. If Miami continues this defensive scheme to try and throw LeBron and Anthony off, Miami will just need to capitalize on their offense.