Miami Heat atempting to maximize possession game
MIAMI — It tends to be viewed as more of a football stat, but for the Miami Heat, ball protection has been a major contributing factor being able to remain afloat amid an injury-marred, road-intensive start to the season.
Entering Thursday, the Heat stood sixth in the NBA in assists-to-turnover ratio and third in stealth to turnovers.
To Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, it is a product of playing smarter.
“The intentions of our offense are getting better, the assertiveness, but making the right IQ play is getting better and everybody feels like they’re getting involved,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat facing the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Kaseya Center .
“When everybody is involved and you’re playing with a team IQ, it’s much easier to get in a rhythm.”
Selflessness, Spoelstra said, has been instrumental.
“If you’re hunting for your own individual rhythm in this league,” he said. “It tends to not work out for you or more importantly for the team.”
The Heat’s efficiency comes despite not having a player in the NBA’s Top 20 in assist-per-turnover. Instead, it has been a collective approach.
“I think that’s how we’ve always been since I’ve been here,” said point guard Kyle Lowry, who went into Thursday 20th in the NBA in steals per turnover. “I think the organization has always been about making sure that it’s not just one or two, it’s about everybody. We find ways to help each other play at higher levels.”
Part of the Heat’s success with ball movement has been center Bam Adebayo remaining a willing passer even while averaging a career-best 23.3 points per game. Adebayo entered Thursday averaging 4.0 assists, higher than the 3.2 he averaged last season or the 3.4 he averaged two seasons ago.
“I think it’s a great progression for Bam,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo reading increasingly more complex opposing defensive schemes . “I know that he’s embracing all of this, and this is the respect that you get. When you’re a great player in this league, you get a kitchen sink thrown at you. And for the first handful of years, he wasn’t necessarily schemed against except for the pick and roll.
“And now, because of everything that he’s added to his game, you can’t just let him operate in space in the low post, at the elbows. You have to come up with some kind of plan. Whatever that plan may be, it’s different team to team. But ultimately that’s a positive for us and he’s developed a lot of different skills. So if teams are trying to take the ball out of his hands, ultimately one of his best strengths initially was his passing and his vision. And I think you make other players better. And when other teams are trying to force him to do that, that should be a good thing for our team offensively.”
Another element of the crisper, cleaner Heat attack has been Josh Richardson growing more comfortable at point guard when Lowry sits.
“This has been happening for three weeks. It’s just been a matter of time. Each week he’s been getting a lot more comfortable,” Spoelstra said of Richardson, who rejoined the team in free agency in the offseason, after being traded away in the 2019 offseason. “It was just a matter of him getting reacclimated to how we do things here, finding his role.
“It’s a little bit more complex with J-Rich because he has to play with both units. But he wants that. It’s great. You want to have that kind of versatility. He gives us something very dynamic defensively. And then his ability to play three positions offensively for us is important, to be able to play with both units. But he’s getting a lot more aggressive. A lot more comfortable.”
Highsmith back
The Heat had power forward Haywood Highsmith back in their mix Thursday, after he sat out Tuesday night’s home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks due to the lower-back contusion sustained in Saturday night’s road loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
