Tag Archive for: Jimmy Butler

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Hornets

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The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets tonight.

Yeah, didn’t think I’d be saying that.

Before I discuss the Heat’s poor, poor offensive night, the craziness must be mentioned first.

Kyle Lowry comes up big late in the game, but Erik Spoelstra closes it out with his infamous inbound play to seal it.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Miami’s immediate stagnant offensive switch in second quarter.

The Heat came out firing early on offensively, leading to a 37 point first quarter. But they decided to follow that up with a 10 point second quarter, in which I walked away questioning how they even reached 10. The reasoning: their offensive disposition just went right out the window, as they weren’t able to trigger any of their base actions smoothly. Part of this can be attributed to the fact they’re staggering bench lineups that are missing 3 of their primary bench pieces, with one of them being Tyler Herro’s scoring punch, but falling off a cliff to this degree for an extended amount of time just can’t happen. Jimmy Butler definitely wasn’t too engaged in that stretch to will them out of it, as his passiveness stuck out, which quickly blends into forced shots with the supporting cast.

#2: A Gabe Vincent-Omer Yurtseven combo?

I’d just like to take a second to dip out of game evaluations, and dive into player evaluations. I’ve discussed many different two-man combos that work effortlessly, such as Butler-Lowry inverted PnR’s or Robinson-Adebayo DHO and slip, but another one has jumped off the screen: Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. As Miami struggled against Dallas on Tuesday night, their only positive offensive stretches came from Vincent-Yurt pick and rolls with plenty of lob passes that followed. But there’s other reasons this works that I may not have enough time to fully address. Vincent has a skill to retract big defenders out of the play then create space, which falls into Yurtseven’s wheelhouse. Easy post hooks can come out of it with no help, which is why this goes further than just a pick and roll. It may be minor, but it’s an interesting thing to keep track of.

#3: Will 3 point shooting return after the break?

If you’re watching the Heat’s broadcast, you’d often hear about sharpshooter Duncan Robinson being replaced by fellow sharpshooter Max Strus when one exits. But lately, it’s not really a barrage of outside shooting in every lineup, or any lineup at that. Once again, yes Herro takes a lot of pressure off some of that, but this goes beyond that. This is a team who’s two best players aren’t outside shooters, so that pull must be happening for them to succeed. And with the forceful purpose to pry Robinson open and Strus continuing to struggle, it just heavily ties into the stagnant offense over the last two nights. Heat shot 7% in the second half against Dallas, yet late-game offense is the focus. But if that percentage bumps up just a bit, you aren’t even in late-game offense. We focus on a lot with this team as we evaluate things with a microscope, but that one part of this team has been an obvious eye sore as of late.

#4: A tough night for Jimmy Butler.

The last few weeks have been a lot of Jimmy Butler takeaways after games in a positive fashion, but tonight was as tough as it gets for him. As I spoke about earlier with this Heat offense, things just weren’t flowing in their normal fashion. But when that usually occurs this season, Butler is their offensive outlet. He can attack mismatches, get to the line, and do his usual Butler-like things. But there were absolutely no mismatches to attack even though he tried, the whistle wasn’t as friendly as it normally can be, and that spiraled into complete nonsense to say the least. It’s one thing to miss shots if your Butler, but it’s a completely other thing to force passes and attack mismatches that aren’t really there for 3 straight quarters. Simply, Butler looked like he was already on his flight to Cleveland. But then, OT happened. Then double OT. Then Butler happened. After a historically poor shooting night, he hit two big ones late as he told the bench ‘I told you I’d make one.’

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#5: The All-Star break is here.

It’s now officially the All-Star break for the Miami Heat. Aside from anymore offensive game-plan bashing from this match-up or Kyle Lowry takeover mode late, it’s clear that the Heat need this time as much as anybody. For one, it allows their primary bench mob to get back healthy, as Caleb Martin rests that achilles, Dewayne Dedmon gets some much needed rest, and Tyler Herro gets that knee back in perfect shape. Plus, the top guys on this team deserve it as well, but nobody seems to need it more than PJ Tucker. He was their only offensive punch in this one, but other than that, he’s just been available all season long. Take the next week off, then come back with a new mindset as they enter a home heavy part of their schedule.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Mavs

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The Miami Heat fell short to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, after a good start from a handful of guys.

Jimmy Butler battled late on the offensive end, but he didn’t have that sidekick to keep up the pace alongside him. Late-game offensive issues came up again with Butler isolations, and it ended in a Mavs win.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Miami’s defensive formula against a Luka Doncic led Dallas Mavericks team.

When looking at this Dallas Mavericks team on paper, they’re offensive structure falls right into the Miami Heat’s wheelhouse in terms of ways to defend him. They’re better suited this year for team’s with one superior player who they can try and eliminate from offensive impact totally. Simply, the goal is to make the others around him beat them. And well, we found out soon that those others would end up taking advantage for Dallas in the second half. We can talk about them unsurprisingly sticking PJ Tucker on him to start, while Bam Adebayo swiftly switched onto him with every screen, but the mid-post and half-court stuff was more intriguing. When he got a singular Heat defender on his back, here’s Jimmy Butler edging all the way over for the double. Once again, that’s Butler’s home base, and one of his biggest skills on the basketball court. When he can be that free safety, this Heat defense is at their best. But as the game went on, Doncic found a rhythm. He had a big third quarter as he adjusted to what the Heat were throwing at him, and that’s when he’s scariest.

#2: Omer Yurtseven plugs in, Omer Yurtseven stepping up big early.

Dewayne Dedmon was a late scratch tonight due to back spams, and there was another guy lurking to step right up into that role: Omer Yurtseven. Like he always does, he immediately began to fill up that stat sheet, but how does he do it? For one, the phrase ball magnet goes hand in hand with Yurtseven’s play. Yes, he’s a big guy who take up space around the rim, but the ability to find it and track it down around the rim is certainly a skill. Aside from that, he was putting up some scoring numbers as well, due to relief baskets around the rim. The Mavericks were constantly so worried about the kick-out after the drive to the weak-side wing, that they would predict the weak-side perimeter rotation. That left their defense with no tagger in sight, ending with some easy looks for Yurtseven, or even single coverage for his post hook. He performs at a high level when he gets opportunities, and it’s pretty promising.

#3: Oh hey, it’s assertive Bam Adebayo again.

Bam Adebayo went on another one of those aggressive runs in the second quarter tonight, and it feels like we’re getting closer and closer to this just becoming a regular thing. He’s facing up and just going on those strong side looks, which has a lot to do with Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler running away to eliminate that safety blanket retracting pass. There was a possession late in the second quarter where Adebayo dribbled up the floor, which flowed into a Bam-Butler inverted PnR. With an empty corner on his right, he refused the screen and took a strong drive back left with only the slower Dwight Powell standing in his way. He blew by him, got to the basket with ease, and laid it in. This version of Adebayo is scary, but when they can run stuff like that consistently, it elevates even further.

#4: Haywood Highsmith is signed, and immediately in the rotation.

The Miami Heat signed Haywood Highsmith to a 10 day contract earlier today, which could be a two-way contract pretty soon, but he found himself in the rotation pretty soon. With Caleb Martin and Tyler Herro out, there really weren’t many options among the reserves against Dallas, so he got an immediate trial run. When he was initially picked up by Miami early in the season, I said he was a pure Heat guy. Can switch and provide good defensive versatility, can hit the relief corner three, and knows where to be within Miami’s base offensive sets. But when his time ran out with Miami, I mentioned that he would be back. And here he is. Why did I think that? Well, due to all of the things I just named, he fills immediate holes with his versatility to plug right into different spots. We’ve talked about PJ Tucker insurance, but maybe they just needed somebody to eat up some minutes in this fashion.

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#5: Heat’s offensive alternative getting them in trouble in second half.

The Heat were shooting 6 of 13 from downtown in the first half, then proceeded to go 1 of 12 from three over the next quarter and a half. That usually translates to how the offense is performing, but it appeared to be more than that in the second half. For one, combined with missing outside shots, they didn’t have other options at the rim as they did early on. Jimmy Butler grinded out some buckets throughout their rough third quarter stretch, just buying time for somebody to pop. That blended into the fourth, as Butler continued to get into “Butler mode,” purely taking over inside the lane to keep Miami in it. But the element that stood out was something I’ve addressed before: when Bam Adebayo goes out, don’t treat the back-up big like Bam Adebayo in times of need. Offense was stagnant, and somehow they found themselves working everything through Omer Yurtseven in the middle of the floor. He can provide a sparky punch, but the longer he’s out there, the more that can be exploited.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Nets

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The Miami Heat had a good looking lead against the Brooklyn Nets early in the 4th, but Kyrie Irving began to happen. Miami would try and mix things up, but he would beat every double that came his way.

Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo had some big shots throughout to keep some padding, but it’s something to keep an eye on. As PJ Tucker noted previously, leads aren’t a comfortable nature on this team.

A big time Jimmy Butler drive with 20 seconds left put Miami up 3, which should always be his late-game outlet. An eventual Lowry steal iced it as they tried to get it to Irving.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one, heavily focused on the early game positive elements…

(Twitter thread incoming on the 4th quarter stuff later)

#1: Gabe Vincent: Two-Way deal to two-way dominant force.

When you hear the word “versatility,” your mind immediately flows in the direction of someone like Bam Adebayo, who can guard positions 1 to 5, be placed in different roles, and still be an evolving young player. But when watching Gabe Vincent, versatility is a key word. For one, you see him make unexpected plays on the defensive end, like Iguodala-esque steals and a highlight block at the rim. But more importantly, he’s constantly shifted within the offense. He’s running sets and dissecting the mid-range immediately. Then they go small with Lowry-Vincent-Herro-Strus-Adebayo, which relies more on his off-ball spacing and ball movement stringer. He kept Miami’s offense afloat in that first half, and it wasn’t just because of that 11 point mark in the scorers column.

#2: Tyler Herro looking fresh early on.

Staying the course of Miami’s first half offensive avenue, Tyler Herro was the other piece next to Vincent to keep things above water early on. But aside from that, he just looked fresh. After getting two games off, he came back in full dissector mode, but one play in that first half showed major growth. When facing drop, which he has major success against, the defender looped over the top of the screen and cut him off as he flowed into a potential mid-range pull-up. Instead of retreating back out per usual, he turned the corner, kept his dribble alive baseline, and found himself wide open around the rim for a lay-in. The phrase “turning the corner” is the interesting part, and it’s something we didn’t attach much to him in the past. But I’ve found myself noticing it a ton this season. He ended up not closing which was a bit surprising, but I’m not sure the specifics yet on why.

#3: My minor offensive evaluation: Bam Adebayo growing in “Kyle Lowry world.”

Watching Bam Adebayo get the ball on the break, run in the open court, then finish in traffic for a transition lay-in provides some flashbacks to what we’ve seen throughout this week. But seeing it on repeat over this recent stretch leads to further evaluations. Kyle Lowry basically forces surrounding pieces into playing at an extremely fast pace, but there’s an adjustment period with that, especially with Adebayo early in the season. Yet recently, I’ve seen Bam filling up transition gaps in a much more comfortable way. It may be Lowry’s world, but Bam seems to really fit the mold of his community.

#4: PJ Tucker. That’s it. That’s my takeaway.

Miami’s off-ball movement begins, the ball starts to swing, and finds the hands of PJ Tucker as he rises up from the dunker spot to post position. He gives a quick little post move, then turns into a nice looking post hook. Yeah, abnormal. The following possession, two defenders end up doubling Kyle Lowry in the corner, which he then flips it to Tucker on the baseline slip. He gets into post position again, kicks it out, but the ball gets tipped. What do you usually do next? Well, a normal person would see the Nets defense scoop it up and get into transition. But when you are PJ Tucker, you dive on the floor and tap it out in perfect fashion for a Duncan Robinson corner three. Plays like that just sum up Tucker, as he crawled back to the defensive end with Adebayo simultaneously picking him up.

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#5: The solidity of a back-up big.

Looking at the teams that sit atop their respective conferences as the 1 seed–in the Heat and the Suns– we can pick out many similarities between the teams. But one that grazes under the radar, yet shouldn’t, is the solidity of the back-up big spot. JaVale McGee is another story with the way he can plug into the starting lineup or provide spark minutes, but Dewayne Dedmon just shows that he can be Bam Adebayo’s playoff minute eater. Bam playing 40, while Dedmon keeps them afloat across the other 8. Looking at tonight, it clearly wasn’t his most efficiently impactful night. He had some moments where he’d snag a needed rebound, or even hit a three early on, but perimeter teams who go small can play him off the floor and put him in an odd spot. When watching runs like the one seen from Brooklyn tonight, it shows the importance of his impact. Or better yet, the potential of Miami going small in a shrunken rotation against certain teams in the post-season.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Pelicans

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The Miami Heat faced the New Orleans Pelicans on the night of the deadline, after a rather quiet afternoon, but still got the win.

A Kyle Lowry triple-double, Jimmy Butler dictating, and Bam Adebayo aggressiveness.

The Heat’s 3 best players were their 3 best players.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Another high awareness offensive start from Bam Adebayo.

Bam Adebayo entered this game in New Orleans with some pretty aggressive offensive showings right behind him. He’s found ways to exploit these switchy teams, put his back to the basket when needed, and find some clear lanes to attack. But in this match-up, it was clearly a bigger body than we’ve seen recently, in Jonas Valanciunas. But right from the jump, we saw a similar mindset. It’s one thing to be aggressive, but it’s another thing to be decisive. Tonight, we saw both. Instead of taking advantage of a one-on-one match-up, he found the dead spots on the floor and rose up. That exact area was the middle of the floor inside the free throw line, where he flowed into that jumper early. He dominated around the rim yet again, even with the surrounding size, and that’s when you know we’re noticing change. He’s evolving.

#2: Jimmy Butler hunting again, as Miami tries to find a rhythm.

As we saw in a recent game against Charlotte, there’s one difference in this Heat team compared to recent ones. Even though there’s a similar focus on three-point shooting, it isn’t the only deciding factor in winning and losing a game. In past years, if they weren’t shooting well, they would keep going to it since it was their only choice. This season, that is usually a signal for Jimmy Butler time. He always finds a way to keep them afloat during that time, and that begins with mismatch hunting and camping out at the charity stripe. For one, Kyle Lowry being slotted next to him allows for much quicker insert passes, but it’s still all Butler in terms of seeking out opportunities to get to the line. And that’s how they survive.

#3: Omer Yurtseven next to Bam Adebayo again?

When looking at this Heat roster tonight, without Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin, I was intrigued with how the rotation might shake up. But it should’ve been obvious against a bigger Pelicans’ team that they would go big. We saw Dewayne Dedmon next to Bam for stretches, but Omer Yurtseven entering was the part to mention. It makes sense to go big in that manner when losing depth options, but we saw it in a positive light once again. The reasoning: it’s for short stints. Anyway, we saw the high-low actions being spammed, and man did they look good. Adebayo would get position down low on a 4, no help was in sight, and he went up in the post for a decent look. We’ve seen this as Bam as the ‘high’ one and PJ Tucker as the ‘low’ guy, but Tucker isn’t a post threat. That’s the small difference in the offensive sets, and it’s good to see that diversity depending on the personnel.

#4: Heat dodging a bullet in New Orleans, and it’s not about the game.

As the Heat play the Pelicans on the night of the trade deadline, it blends right into the conversation many have been having about this team the past 24 hours. If a move was going to be made, they needed someone at the back-up 4 to eat up some minutes for PJ Tucker. And well, that’s what the buyout market will be for. Anyway, as Tucker drives baseline for a bounce pass into Bam in the middle of the floor, the play quickly escalated to more than an offensive set. Tucker went down on the floor grabbing his knee, leaving many Heat observers in freak-out mode. (If that doesn’t showcase the importance of Tucker, I don’t know what does.) Anyway, it ended up being named a left knee contusion, and there was Tucker standing on the court as the third quarter started. I personally wouldn’t have played him after he went down, but it’s hard to hold back Tucker when in that competitive state.

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#5: The impact of Kyle Lowry.

Forget the stats tonight, which were as Kyle Lowry as Kyle Lowry stats get. (Triple-double btw.) But when watching impact, there’s no one better. For starters, it is just simply night and day in the ways the offensive sets are run with this Heat team. Their first action begins so much sooner in the shot clock due to his initial full court entry pass, but the half court stuff is much more noticeable. The main element ties back to Bam Adebayo. It isn’t a coincidence that Adebayo’s aggression and comfort aligns perfectly with the return of Lowry to the lineup. Looking at his assist numbers, he just sets Adebayo up quite perfectly, and not just out of the PnR. He finds him. He aborts the play. And forces him to go to work. The best play for Adebayo.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Wizards

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The Miami Heat took down the Washington Wizards on Monday night, and they were without Tyler Herro due to some knee soreness.

There were some up and downs early, but Jimmy Butler controlled, and the young bench group stepped up big to expand that lead.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: The first half up and downs.

The Heat came out swinging to start this game, finding the appropriate exploitable match-ups on the floor, beginning with the coveted Duncan Robinson DHO. The reasoning was due to them facing drop coverage once again, which always leaves Robinson with a potential explosion. I’ll discuss the other offensive reasons they got out in front next, but a quick fall-out occurred in the second quarter, leaving Erik Spoelstra running on the court to call a timeout early on like he knew what was coming. The first thing was just not taking care of the ball, and bad looking turnovers had the Wizards getting easy buckets on the other end. But a very odd element was to see Miami’s defense start so strong, then go downhill. They were doubling hard and hitting passing lanes in that first quarter, but the second quarter story was major defensive miscommunications. Not talking on screens, allowing them to dictate switches, and just poor close-outs. It was just for a stretch, but those are the things that can lead to a huge run in the other direction, which happened.

#2: Big Gabe Vincent offensive punch early on.

As I said in my last post-game piece, Gabe Vincent has been outstanding at filling the role of Kyle Lowry in the starting lineup over recent weeks, but his best minutes continue to come next to Lowry instead. In this one, Vincent enters, and man was he shooting that ball. He had back to back pull-up triples in that stretch, and they were from deep, which was almost Lowry-esque just due to pulling it with confidence in transition. Big picture, discussing playoff lineups or rotations is weird due to the unknown of who will be available, but it’s clear the rotation will shrink. With that said, Vincent will be the perfect filler whenever they need a specific boost in perimeter defense, while also providing quite the offensive versatility. It’ll be interesting when that time comes, but for now, what a story Vincent has been in terms of climbing the ranks after going undrafted, then climbing those ranks even further once again.

#3: Jimmy Butler, the release valve, once again for Miami.

Who was the other person to not only get Miami in front early, but keep the steady pace as Washington edged back? Jimmy Butler. Most of it is just Butler doing Butler things in terms of bulldozing his way down the lane and scoring around the rim, but when zooming out into the actions being run, he was their release valve. We saw a bunch of inverted pick and rolls with Lowry, and that’s due to the need to draw the mismatch, then execute it in isolation. Butler began to do that, even throwing in some unique counters on Deni Avdija when in the mid-post, but it’s just so crucial to see this play out two games in a row. There will be smaller teams, or switchy teams like Charlotte, who Miami could see in the playoffs, and man will that have ‘Butler series’ written all over it. That’s when he’s at his best, but it’s also their offensive savior when things begin to get broken up in their base sets.

#4: A Bam Adebayo third quarter shift.

To continue on Miami’s plan of Butler attacking smaller guards, although that was their base, they didn’t have anything to revert to at times. Kyle Lowry still isn’t looking to score, PJ Tucker just takes what comes to him in that corner, and Duncan Robinson was a bit up and down. With that said, all eyes are on Bam Adebayo to do something as the Wizards creep back in. And he did just that. A big time third quarter was filled with some gifted dunks on the roll to start it off, but things trended back in the direction of what we saw the previous two games. One play, he got the deep seal on a smaller guy, which he then turned right into that post hook with no kick-out crossing his mind. The next play, they insert it into him for a post split, but it turns into iso mode on the clear-out, where he drives off the face-up leading to a foul. These aggressive scoring spurts are the stand-out moments of this past week for this Heat team.

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#5: A little winning streak before the trade deadline.

Tonight’s win over Washington was their third straight win, and it’s a pretty good time to start streaking. This was the final game before the trade deadline on Thursday, and well, I wouldn’t expect many things to change. The Heat could end up making some marginal upgrades to find that back-up 4 as PJ Tucker protection, but simply their rotation seems pretty set. A move that seems most likely is maybe sending a piece out to upgrade Caleb Martin’s contract from two-way to a normal roster spot. Either way, this Heat team sits atop the East with so many guys missing time, but the emergence of these young guys is just the most settling part. If guys go down, there’s protection. If they need to plug a certain skill in a series, there’s protection. They’re in a great spot, and the vets haven’t even hit their main strides.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over the Hornets

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The Miami Heat took down the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, behind aggressiveness from Bam Adebayo and a scoring takeover from Jimmy Butler.

But here are some takeaways from the match-up…

#1: Intentional Bam Adebayo transcends any potential trade deadline acquisition.

Watching Bam Adebayo to start this game, it looked like it was heading in the wrong direction. Losing the ball at the head of the offense, almost seeming like his wrapped hand is restricting his ball-handling. But that aside, we saw an intentional version of Adebayo on the offensive end, and that transcends any possible trade or any expected version of Victor Oladipo upon return. If Bam is playing like this, by attacking mismatches on smaller defenders, gaining momentum on drives, and straight up trying to score, then Miami’s ceiling is raising. But to be fair, Adebayo was shooting 3 for 13 at the half, which in my opinion should not matter. The attempts is the main element, and he was causing positive things offensively. Now, he even followed up my piece on his defensive improvements with another absolute masterpiece. This is a team that you can switch everything, and man did he switch everything. Locking up anybody they threw his way, which leads into my next point.

#2: Both Charlotte and Miami matching their first half offensive plan.

The Heat clearly struggled to shoot the ball to start, but how did they generate enough offense? Well, it was simple: attack the mismatch on the block each and every possession. Part of that was Adebayo against PJ Washington early, but it was just simply Jimmy Butler doing Jimmy Butler things. Getting position in the post, scoring around the rim, or drawing fouls consistently. But Charlotte began to blend into a similar offensive mindset. While the Heat were punishing them on the interior, the Hornets were searching for the favorable switch. And well, that was Tyler Herro most of that second quarter. Guys like Miles Bridges would get the switch, the Hornets would space out, and it led to either two things: a score inside from Bridges on the mismatch, or hitting the open spacer after Miami’s weak-side defender pulls down. Both teams navigated the offensive advantage, but funny enough, they were much more alike than you’d think.

#3: Big picture, does the winner come down to who controls the pace?

Coming into this game, my overarching take for Miami was the pace would have to lean in their favor. This is a young and athletic Hornets team who love to run, and the Heat should really slow things down and grind it out. And with the poor shooting on both sides to start, that was point Miami. Yet as things began to pick up, and Charlotte made that second quarter run, you could sense the Heat falling into that constant running trap. Now, to zoom out for a second due to the possibility of these teams seeing each other with higher stakes, that’s who will come out on top most nights. Another reason it would favor Miami in a playoff series is because the game naturally slows down anyway, but when a young quarterback like LaMelo Ball is running the show, he can dictate however he wants. It would just end up being the LaMelo Ball-Kyle Lowry show.

#4: The Jimmy Butler takeover upon us again, but frankly, this one was…odd?

As Jimmy Butler walks off the court late in the third with 27 points, it raises an eyebrow in some ways. Why is that? Well, it was one of the weirdest scoring takeovers I’ve seen from him all year. Sometimes it’s just pure free throw line antics. Other times it’s hunting mismatches to get easy looks off the drive. But tonight, that 27 kinda just…happened. All jokes aside though, the way Butler can just slowly chip away and expand a lead like he did in the third is really a skill. Like I mentioned before, he took over to start with his ability to take control of mismatches on the block, but he was a late shot clock killer as time went on. We’ve seen Miami’s role players takeover many nights, but seeing Butler and Adebayo control throughout is a great sight.

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#5: Navigating the first round match-ups.

We’ve seen Miami face many of the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff standings, we’ve seen some trends. And no, I’m not just basing this off of one loss or one win. The Cleveland Cavaliers can clearly provide some problems for Miami offensively, just due to the length they can throw out there, and pretty much block off the entire interior whenever they choose. The Toronto Raptors are one of the most unique teams in that range, just due to their switchiness and grittiness, but that’s a series that could clearly wear Miami out before moving on. And now, the Charlotte Hornets. It’s a talented young group who have a high ceiling and low floor from night to night, due to the way they can score in a spark fashion, but Miami matches up with them decently. It’s one of the few teams they can switch everything against, and the attack is pretty much there to be taken all night. It’s Heat basketball, and it wouldn’t be the worst match-up in the world come playoff time.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to the Raptors

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The Miami Heat were in the mud against the Toronto Raptors. The absolute mud. Down 10 heading into the fourth, then boom, they hit you.

They looked like they had it handled late, but a late foul call gave Scottie Barnes two free throws to send it to OT.

Then it went to double OT. Then Triple OT.

But eventually, they fell short after a missed Herro three to potentially take the lead in that third OT.

So, here are some takeaways from this one, mostly focusing on regulation…

(Full 7 quarter dive tomorrow morning)

#1: Toronto’s unique team providing visible issues for Miami.

On paper, the Toronto Raptors are the type of team Miami should struggle with. Not only do they have length, but they have switchable length. We saw that early in this one with Miami’s offense, specifically in non-Jimmy Butler lineups or pure bench units. The reason is that they can cut off the head of the snake at an elite level, which was Tyler Herro in these stretches. That led to just horrible looking offense, due to the inability to trigger their main actions. On the other end of the floor, there were certain match-ups that it was clear Miami needed to key in on. Gary Trent Jr was cooking, Fred VanVleet provides problems, and Paschal Siakam can really take advantage of the mismatch. The issue: Miami was providing that mismatch frequently early on, since soft switching was seen most.

#2: Pure Jimmy Butler offensive takeover.

Well, Jimmy Butler went nuclear in that first half. We saw him score 24 points in that span, but it was more about how he was doing it. Not only did he spark his entire team, and the whole FTX Arena, to finish the second quarter, but his finishing was being shown at an elite level. Emphasis on elite. It’s something we keep track of often when Butler gets around the rim, but he was finishing in acrobatic ways around the Raptors lengthy match-ups, instead of the usual pure bully ball against weaker defenders. Stuff like this needs to be viewed at a broader level in moments like this: when Butler’s playing like this, he’s hard to stop. And less importantly in terms of team success, that Eastern Conference starting All Star spot looks closer to being filled.

#3: An intriguing PJ Tucker skill.

A PJ Tucker skill on a Heat post-game piece? Who would’ve thought? I could potentially spend way too much time on the things Tucker provides as a spacer on both ends, but it’s important when noticing some areas of him branching out slowly within his role in that corner. Early in the first, Tucker catches in the corner, puts the ball on the floor to drive baseline, hangs in the air, and hits Gabe Vincent in the opposite corner. Shortly after, Tucker and Vincent copied and pasted the same exact play on opposite sides of the floor. Why is this important? Well, when things breakdown in a playoff series to much simpler elements, an ability to have your corner specialist as something other than a stiff shooter is so crucial. And after we’ve seen his play-making surge, it isn’t the worst thing to get to.

#4: Tyler Herro still searching for the length counter.

Looking down the line of this season, aside from the last time Tyler Herro faced the Raptors, some of Herro’s worst games come when he faces a great amount of length. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first one as they oddly slowed down Herro with one big guy rotating over on him after another as he tried to drive, but the Toronto Raptors seem to provide even more problems. With Herro’s need for the screen, every time one comes it’s a new switchable Raptors defender to hound him. And like I said prior, placing Scottie Barnes on him during the all bench lineups really cut off Miami’s offensive mobility. If he can’t breakthrough that specific match-up, we will see more teams take their lengthy, versatile defender and place him onto Herro in different playoff series.

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#5: Max Strus comes alive to begin the fourth.

Down 10 going into the fourth quarter, while efficient offense doesn’t even seem like an option, Spoelstra rolls out the Vincent-Herro-Strus-Martin-Dedmon lineup. A few minutes later, Nick Nurse is on the court calling a timeout following two big time Max Strus threes and a Gabe Vincent lay-in. More big time fourth quarter plays came after that as well, including a Tyler Herro shake on OG Anunoby for a three and a miraculous shot by Butler as he forced it up and off the glass. But the point is this: seeing Strus do what he does best, which is spark things for the Heat’s offense, sums up his role later in the season quite perfectly. Robinson will probably be the lone rotation shooter, but when offense can’t get going, and you’re down double digits in the fourth, look to Strus since there’s a chance he can bail you out. But yet, he wasn’t the closer. Three more quarters came shortly after, and Miami fell just short.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Clippers

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The Miami Heat faced the LA Clippers on the front end of a back to back, and the Heat closed it out late as the Clippers fought hard to make a comeback.

Another big shot from PJ Tucker in the corner was truly the dagger, as some Jimmy Butler late free throws put them over the top.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Jimmy Butler’s best individual skill on display.

After seeing Jimmy Butler’s hot start on Friday night, it was clear that has left big toe was far from irritated. Flowing into offense nicely, hitting guys on back-cuts constantly, and well, being the defensive anchor in a very favorable defensive scheme. It may sound odd, but he’s better defensively against spread out talent. Big time names are individual fun for Bam Adebayo and PJ Tucker, but Butler’s home is off the ball. Ivica Zubac catches it at the elbow extended early in the first to get the Clippers into offense. Butler edges up slowly on the weak-side, then bursts. Butler always likes to call it timely gambles, but I call it a pure skill and knack that he possesses. Much like he can make unbelievable reads on the offensive end as a passer, his defensive reads bypass it by far.

#2: Duncan Robinson happened again, but mixing in other things.

When you see drop coverage, you see Duncan Robinson. As I’ve said in the past, it’s much easier for him to flow into looks with the task of just eliminating his one on-ball defender on the perimeter. But it puts a defense in an odd spot any time he touches the floor. It only takes one possession where a miscommunication occurs, and there Robinson is in space firing away a triple. Aside from those obvious elements, his reads were incredible early on. And when I say reads, I mean his off-ball ones. Moving with the ball on the attack, watching his defender sink into tagging mode, then flying right down the baseline for an easy layup inside. His cutting was great in this one, and like I said, it just puts that much more stress on a defense on a nightly basis. Crazy what making shots can shift.

#3: Oh, PJ Tucker was active early offensively? What a surprise.

When watching a Heat game this season, it’s impossible not to notice PJ Tucker on both sides of the floor, each and every possession. He’s just so active in that space, that it’s hard to miss his hard lay-out screens, crafty positioning within the perimeter, and volume shot making. The outside shots were there once again early on, but the inside flip shots closely followed. His presence down there was a necessity with the way the Clippers would collapse, and it actually led to a few trips to the line for him, on a night where there was a very friendly whistle on both ends. We can evaluate his impact as a role player under a microscope night in and night out, but the truth is he isn’t playing like a role player. He’s performing like a core piece, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon.

#4: Gabe Vincent decided to join in from one spot on the floor tonight. Just one.

Whenever Gabe Vincent is discussed on these post-game pieces, it’s usually me highlighting his defensive expertise with elite ball pressure and half court hounding. But tonight…tonight was different. Vincent absolutely exploded in the third quarter, three after three after three after three. Most of them seemed to come from that right wing without moving, but all jokes aside, this is a guy that has made two total transformation in the span of two years. Straight shooter converted to defensive stopper with point guard duties, while the shot now loops back around for another cycle. There’s great developmental stories in the Miami Heat’s franchise history, but then there’s Vincent. Simple in a class of his own in terms of immediate turn around stories. But as he told me before the season, he altered his jumper for the better.

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#5: Predicting the Miami Heat’s late season rotation is a pointless exercise.

Whenever I address the Heat’s potential rotation late in the season after certain guys play well, something is noticed: it’s constantly fluctuating on opinion. But at this moment in time, it feels like one thing is apparent. As good as Max Strus has been, and can continue to grow the more games he plays, it just seems like he’s not in a simplified rotation if Duncan Robinson is playing this way. We were saying the same thing when Robinson went through his slump, but now that Robinson is moving, it doesn’t look like he’s going back. The way is to clearly lean toward defensive guards, in Vincent and Caleb Martin, who are shooting at an incredible rate at the moment. Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo will be back eventually, but for now, these two guys are filling in just fine.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Knicks

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The Miami Heat took down the New York Knicks at home in comfortable fashion. Pure offensive and defensive control from the tip-off to the final buzzer.

Tyler Herro returned, Jimmy Butler stayed steady, and PJ Tucker and Duncan Robinson provided the needed boost.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Duncan Robinson killing the Knicks early in ways we’ve seen, PJ Tucker in ways we haven’t.

The Miami Heat came out absolutely firing to start this game, and it was generated by two people in that span. Duncan Robinson had a very favorable match-up with this Knicks defense, since you ultimately feel much more comfortable with him against that deep drop. The screener just needs to take out one defender, leading to wide open looks immediately, before they begin to blitz out a bit later. PJ Tucker, on the other hand, goes on offensive runs in an unexpected manner, since well, “offensive runs” and PJ Tucker never used to mix. Jimmy Butler did a great job of drawing bodies on drives and finding the corner shooter on the kick-out, which Tucker was the result back-to-back early in the first. Then once unexpected corner gravity occurs, that floater and oddly amazing finishing enters.

#2: Tyler Herro is back…like he never left.

Tyler Herro entered the health and safety protocols about a week ago, but he made his return in this one. But while Robinson exploited things that made sense on paper, Herro went in a different direction. All indicators were that Herro would totally exploit the mid-range pull-up against that drop, but he utilized the other two elements of his game instead early. The three was falling, but more important, his downhill presence was something to note. Initiating contact on pick and roll drives while finishing in traffic is quite the consistent addition for his offensive game at this point. But just overall seeing him control the game in full bench lineups, while handling and creating for himself at an extremely high level, are the most essential parts about this one. When his creation looks like this to score, it changes the offensive trajectory of this team.

#3: Miami’s defensive excellence early on was expected on paper.

Much like I said Robinson had a visible advantage on paper, the Miami Heat’s entire defense had a favorable match-up. After seeing the Knicks immediate reaction when things go down, they completely spam strong side Julius Randle reps for him to try and score or create. But the Heat love that type of play-style since they can speed you up right out the gate. When switching the way they have, the plan was to fully double Randle in that high post upon any insertion, much like they did against LeBron James a few nights ago. And when he begins to make the quick reads, it’s all about rotating on the back-side at a high level, which they did for some time. But minor tweaks had to be made, such as leaving less of a gap between the weak-side corner defender and the corner shooter. And well, those adjustments are what make this defense so scary.

#4: Another night of pure Jimmy Butler all around control.

Jimmy Butler followed up a game where he finished with a triple double in a pure passing clinic, by coming right back around the next game for another display of pure all around control. For one, to touch on a few points from before, he’s the beneficiary for the hard doubles on the high post guy, since frankly, that’s his defensive home. He also had some moments of very nice reads, specifically on drive and kicks, but the story was his scoring. A high scoring night from Butler is great, but a high scoring efficient night from Butler is what takes him up a notch. He was finishing at a high level around the rim, which could go either way at times, and just really utilized a ton of angles to his advantage throughout. Butler may be evaluated under a microscope at times, but man can he control a game like this with plain ease, making the Kyle Lowry return even more intriguing.

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#5: This Heat team’s depth isn’t just when guys go down. It’s a nightly event.

Whenever you watch this Heat team. Whenever you hear people talk about this Heat team. Whenever you look at the roster of this Heat team. There’s a similar theme that always pops out first when looking for adjectives: depth. Guys go down, others step up, and it’s just nothing new since it’s a “next man up” mentality. But that description isn’t as simple as just having back-up plans when guys are out or aren’t performing to their standards. More importantly, this is a team that can hurt you with so many different groups on a night to night basis. What I mean by that is, as we saw tonight, it was Butler-Herro-Robinson-Tucker who led the way offensively. But over this past week, Vincent-Strus-Martin-Adebayo have all had “game-high” moments as well. That’s what makes this group so scary, and as we continue to say, they still aren’t full. Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo are still looming in different manners.

 

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The Miami Heat are Better Suited Now Following the Hardships

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The Miami Heat are the 1st seed in the East at this moment in time. They sit 13 games over .500, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Tyler Herro have only played 11 of the 47 games together this season, and the guys on the lower half of the roster have emerged.

We’ve seen so many times in the past when certain teams get hot in the regular season, but playoff ball is just strictly dependent on the right match-up. So what makes the Heat fall outside of that category?

Well, the simple answer was portrayed to start this piece, since there’s always that element that a fully healthy roster can elevate this group even further, plus the late addition of Victor Oladipo pretty soon.

But the more important answer is that Erik Spoelstra has found some things along the way this season. Things that wouldn’t have been found if guys didn’t go down.

For starters, we’ve seen a gem in Omer Yurtseven emerge, who plugged right into the starting lineup as that expected filler, and performed at a very high level to generate some wins throughout the month of December.

A guy on a two-way contract named Caleb Martin turned into a legitimate rotation player, locking down opposing teams’ best players and scoring the basketball at a rate many didn’t think he could at this level.

A couple of previous two-way projects, in Gabe Vincent and Max Strus, have taken some major steps in their development so far this season as well, due to Strus’ continued elite shooting and trusted skill-set, and Vincent’s improved three-ball, increased court vision, continued defense, and general all-around play.

But that list of developmental players isn’t the main reason that this team is better suited after the previous events. It’s the things Erik Spoelstra was forced into with those specific players.

As mentioned before, Adebayo goes down to begin the month of December with a lengthy time period ahead, but how does this Heat team survive on the defensive end without their anchor?

Well, as Spoelstra has said a million times this season, it’s next man up.

Yurtseven stepping in meant a total shift was coming from the usual switching that occurs in a Miami Heat defensive scheme. And although the switching bothered some observers at times, it led to one of the better defenses in the league for a decent period of time.

With the big man combo of Yurtseven and Dewayne Dedmon, Miami had to blend strictly into a drop coverage team, which at first screams defensive comfortability for other teams to expose. Does Spoelstra have as many tricks in his bag on that end as he once did with Adebayo?

The answer was yes.

We saw him change things rotationally or through match-ups, but the immediate trust to blitz against top tier guards showed the solidity of this team’s back-line rotations and defensive mentality.

So, how did this change put Miami in a better spot moving forward?

Well, Spo has clearly shown that he’s not afraid to shift the defensive coverage from possession to possession, but seeing Miami survive with Yurtseven as a blitzer or off-ball mover, tells me the Adebayo defensive play-book just opened up.

It means that offenses will never get comfortable. Adebayo can drop and blitz, switch and double, or lay back as the free safety in the zone. These conversations are easier to have when Vincent and Martin are hounding guys at the point of attack, but that 7 week hiatus from Adebayo may have changed some perspective on that side of the floor.

And more importantly, that is something I believe Erik Spoelstra has already slipped in his pocket to return to come playoff time.

On the offensive end, many things just simply come down to player production at the right time, since this is a team that has quite the amount of options down the line if one guy isn’t performing up to their standards.

But as much as adjustments have been made on the defensive end all year, double that for their offensive structure.

No Adebayo and Butler is a hard combination to be without when running an offense. Luckily for the Heat, PJ Tucker stepped up in a way that it almost felt like they weren’t even gone, since they utilized him in a very similar fashion. (Which makes absolutely zero sense in theory)

They would line Tucker up on the strong-side wing with his back to the basket, and flow into their heavy movement offense with stagger screens, back-cuts, pin-downs, hand-offs, and more. That usage shot up even more when they’ve been without Kyle Lowry, which hasn’t been for too long aside from this past week.

But figuring out that Tucker can play in these different spots, and expanding his offensive role little by little, can really change things when they get everybody back. For one, staggering lineups is truly unnecessary when looking at the amount of creators they have on the roster, but it also allows them to put guys like Adebayo in more score-friendly spots, Lowry in higher frequency off-ball spaces, and Butler can essentially split “carries” with Tucker in many ways.

Along with finding that Tucker can play within a bigger role, they found some places to insert him into along the way as well. Something I’ve brought up frequently is Miami’s recent offensive base, which I briefly displayed when discussing the role of Tucker previously.

As seen above, it leaves Miami with a simple insert pass to a guy like Butler on the wing, four guys clear-out to the weak-side for the action to begin, and chaos quickly follows. A bunch of misdirections are used in the process to try and put the defense in a very awkward position, eventually leading to an open cutter around the basket or a three-point attempt on one of the flares.

This may seem oddly specific and unrelated to the original topic of Miami finding things in the process of being without top players, but I highly doubt we would have seen such a diverse offensive playbook in the event that Adebayo and Butler were healthy for the majority of the season thus far.

And yet, that’s what makes this Heat team much more promising as they move forward, and much different than last season’s team: they’re a diverse group now.

Lastly, we’ve still yet to see one of the main elements to this Heat offense due to the inability to get them at full strength: mid-range play.

As much as they’ve previously been a super high spot-up three-ball team, they’ve been last in frequency within that category for quite some time now. And with three of their four best players having a high talent for the mid-range jumper, while Butler has it at times, that was the theme of this team coming in.

Even when Adebayo went down, many of those things carried over. Herro and Lowry still attacked drop coverages at a high level like they usually do, but the mid-range numbers dropped from 15 a game to 10.5 a game over that span.

Why is that?

Well as much as Spoelstra can emulate everything on this roster, that rolling pull-up threat was just no where to be found on this team. Tucker developed a nice looking floater, but that’s not a mid-range roller that they were missing. Yurtseven and Dedmon don’t have that in their bag, it’s one of Martin’s only offensive deficits, and Markieff Morris may be the only one to obtain it, but he hasn’t played in a very long time.

Now, as Adebayo returns to the lineup, who exits at this very moment?

Lowry and Herro, as Herro entered the protocols and Lowry has been away from the team due to personal reasons, which also could be the much needed time off this season.

So let’s take a look around the roster again, what guards can fill the ball-handler pull-up void without those back-court guys?

Duncan Robinson and Strus definitely aren’t the guys for the job, Butler hasn’t been hugely efficient with that this year, and Vincent has actually done it to a decent degree, but not enough for defenses to worry about it.

The point is that it’s been a constant adjustment period within one of the team’s biggest offensive strengths, but they’ve found a way.

And now if that element isn’t falling, like what happened against Milwaukee in last year’s post-season, alternatives are being found sooner than before.

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Talking about getting whole with top level talent is one thing, but getting the pieces back together to experiment within lineups and sets is another thing.

As I said prior, this Heat team sits atop the East, even though they’ve experienced a never-ending cycle of guys exiting and others returning.

“It’s best case scenario when you’re able to learn in a win,” said Duncan Robinson after the Heat’s win over the Lakers. And that right there is the theme of their season so far.

They’ve been in rough spots, picked up on new players and schemes for the long haul, yet still find themselves in the one seed in the Eastern Conference.

There’s no doubt this Heat team is better suited for a lengthy late-season run following the pick-ups they have made along the way.

 

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