The Miami Heat picked up two crucial wins against inferior opponents–the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons–after getting blasted on opening night by the Orlando Magic.
Despite completely modifying their shot profile, the Heat still rank No. 18 in offense, including No. 20 in both effective field goal and true shooting percentage. The overall shot-making hasn’t been crisp, though there have still been bumps with operating in the halfcourt and trying to navigate each other’s spacing.
It hasn’t always been pretty. But Heat star forward Jimmy Butler remains confident that he–and the rest of the team–can match any team’s style of play.
“I can play any style of basketball. We can play any style of basketball,” he said after Monday’s 106-98 win over the Pistons. “Sometimes, you do go up and down; sometimes, you do shoot a lot of 3s; sometimes, you do slow the game down, get into the paint, draw some fouls. Anybody can do that around this locker room, on this roster. Whichever way we need to go, we can go.”
Butler and Bam Adebayo had difficulty finding where to get their shots in the season-opener against a lengthy, sturdy Orlando defense that did an amicable job completely taking them out of the game. Butler responded by scoring 26 and 23 points over his next two games, respectively, taking advantage of mismatches and the additional spacing provided around him.
Adebayo’s had more difficulty with his touch, though he’s still found a way to impact defensively–especially against Detroit. He’s been one of the Heat’s biggest beneficiaries in transition, helping them rank in the top-6 in both points off turnovers and second-chance points per 100 possessions.
Miami still ranks second-to-last in pace. When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Miami likes to play games in the mud. It will pick its spots to pick up pace, but it’s not consistent over a 48-minute sample and it hasn’t been since the Big 3 days; it’s ranked amongst the bottom-13 teams in transition frequency in 10 of the last 11 seasons, including 27th in 2019-20, Butler’s first year with the Heat, according to Cleaning The Glass.
Of course, you have to have the right personnel to play certain styles. We’ll see if they can adapt on the fly, especially against some of the league’s best, over the next several games. Not one size fits all, but how they go about blending together could be hugely beneficial.
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Yes, but some things you can do better than others.
It’s true, but as I’ve mentioned before, it takes until December to understand the type of team you have.