(Photo via Getty Images)
For several years now, the Miami Heat have always been one of the slowest offensive teams in the league. Outside of just the pace, even their offensive efficiency has been near the bottom of the NBA for a while now.
That doesn’t seem to be the case thus far this season.
Coach Erik Spoelstra has repeatedly iterated how much he wants the Heat to push play faster. And the actual product on the court from doing so has looked encouraging. Miami is averaging just over 127 points per game after week one— good for the 5th best in the league.
This revamped offense has led to wins, with the Heat coming out to an early 2-1 record. Additionally, several players on the roster are reaping the benefits of this approach.
Norman Powell has looked like an All-Star caliber scorer. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has also resurged to a strong bounce back so far after a disappointing sophomore slump last season. Even other rotation players, like Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins and Simone Fontecchio have shown success playing in this Heat offense.
The Miami Heat have the highest ranked pace overall in the entire NBA.
Fans across the league just witnessed an underdog Indiana Pacers Finals run just less than six months ago. How did the Pacers do it? A fast offense orchestrated by veteran head coach Rick Carlisle.
Rival teams are seeing success from putting that emphasis on offense and trying to mirror it. Just like how Miami is currently doing. And the numbers are backing it up early on.
Heat captain Bam Adebayo recently spoke on the team’s adjustment following their blowout victory against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“We knew after last year that [Erik Spoelstra] was going to switch up the whole philosophy on offense. He told me that. He said he wanted us to play faster and we are. Playing with pace like this, you love to see everyone collectively have fun and everybody touch the ball. You can’t really scout plays for us. There is no plays. In the whole first half, I don’t think Spo ran a play.”
— Bam Adebayo
It has been a long time coming for Miami to finally apply this change to their entire offensive philosophy. Increasing the pace was a goal going into last season as well, when the team still employed Jimmy Butler, but it didn’t last further than just a few preseason games.
Butler was a player that tended to often slow the game down. Either by isolation or manipulating opposing defenses into drawing fouls. Of course, that Butler-led offense still brought its own dynamic type of success to Miami for years— but now this is a new chapter in Heat history.
And in doing so comes a roster-wide identity shift.
The Heat don’t have that clear cut superstar to take over games anymore. Instead, they have a core of All-Star talent in Adebayo, Powell and Tyler Herro with plenty of intriguing depth to supplement them.
Hopefully the elite coaching of Spoelstra can continue to instill this new offensive approach, because it is paying off in the win column.
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It makes sense for one of the fittest teams in the league, a team known for its grueling training schedules and practices, to take advantage of that fitness and run other teams down.
Heat’s shocking reason for hot start has nothing to do with the offense
The stat sheet, though, says Miami’s new-look offense isn’t what has fueled this sprint out of the starting blocks. Rather, it’s the Heat’s fourth ranked defense, per NBA.com, doing the heaviest lifting.
https://allucanheat.com/heat-s-shocking-reason-for-hot-start-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-offense?page_source=v_recirc
That’s kind of like saying “the stove isn’t what’s doing the cooking, it’s the frying pan!” Like, you need both. A top-5 offense and a top-10 defense (or vice-versa) is always a good formula for building a championship contender, if Miami can keep that up. But we always knew the defense was going to be there. Maybe not top-5, but certainly top-10: even last year, through everything, we had a top-10 defense.
The question we’ve had basically since Jimmy left was “do we have the offensive firepower?” Doubly so since we learned of Herro’s injury. And the answer, so far, has been “yes.” And that’s worth noting.
My point is that I am very impressed that Miami has so drastically improved its offense (going from #21 in 2024-2025 to #5 in 2025-2026) while also significantly improving it’s defense (going from #9 in 2024-2025 to #4 in 2025-2026). Running teams are not typically among the best defensive teams.
I believe part of the reason for Miami’s improved defense is the insertion of Powell in the line-up at SG next to Mitchell, in place of Herro. Powell is a better defender and a comparable offensive player.
As far as offensive firepower, I think the “Quitter’s” style of slow-down/ halfcourt play actually suppressed the team’s growth/evolution. Thank God he’s gone.
However, the $200 million dollar question is, with Herro’s return will the Heat improve its offense while maintaining or improving its defense? If not, he’s outa here. Powell is a much better all around player and his upcoming 3 year extension is only $77M vs $150M for 3 years or @ $200M+ for 4 years for Herro. That decision would be a no brainer.
If that’s the point you want to make, I will very gently advise you to re-think starting posts with frankly baffling statements like “Heat’s shocking reason for hot start has nothing to do with the offense.”
Those are not my words. That was the headline I quoted. It must have worked. It got your attention.
GO HEAT!
It communicated something that you didn’t want communicated, and, being blunt, it made you look like an idiot. Do you want to look like an idiot?
Maybe it’s a better idea to just write your own posts, instead of letting others put words into your mouth for you? You’ve got your own brain, right? Use it, on occasion.
Nice to see you coming around more frequently now that the team is winning. I post articles I think others might find interesting. Kind of got into the habit during the considerable down time since last year’s playoffs. You weren’t around them so I can understand you not being aware of that fact. So far, you are the first complainer. If you don’tt like my posts don’t read them. P.S. Have you noticed how much better the offense and defense are flowing since the Heat got rid of uncan? I know he was your favorite player. You have my sympathies.
Specifically, All You Can Heat, which often has these silly sensationalist headlines.
This style of basketball fits our team like a glove. The more the team plays at this pace, the better it will get.
A faster pace requires quality roster depth due to the frequent substitutions needed to keep the players fresh. Depth is something the Heat has.Miami is probably one of the deeper quality benches in the NBA.
When Herro returns, if Jakucionis is able to gradually work himself into the line-up and if/when Riley is able to bring in a quality big to.rotate with Ware and Bam…forgetaboutit!