|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
1. For most of the first half it looked like we were in for a repeat of Thursday’s nip-and-tuck overtime victory. The HEAT would have their stretches where they were carving up Charlotte’s defense thanks to a hyper aggressive start from Bam Adebayo (24 points, scoring eight of Miami’s first 11), but the shooting would then go cold and the Hornets would come back with a balanced offensive approach of their own. Charlotte, with LaMelo Ball back in uniform, got going in transition just before the break and took the lead.
Then Miami scored 25 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, hitting 11 straight shots, to go up 16 points. Everything started falling. Threes. Hook shots. Literally anything Max Strus (31 points, 8-of-14 from three) – and later, Gabe Vincent and his 20 points on 13 shots – put up. By the end of the quarter they led, 102-84, and their 45 points in the period stood tied for the sixth-most points in franchise history for a single quarter. Any 12-minute stretch like that, at least after the opening 12, should just about put a game away and tonight, after a long stretch of games that came down to the final possessions, was no exception to that rule. Just as in the Portland game on the road a couple weeks ago, an offensive explosion carried the day while a variety of defensive coverages held the fort. When Strus gives you what Strus gave you tonight – the HEAT, playing to their intended identity, shouldn’t lose many games.
2. Another night with the HEAT utilizing every defensive coverage under the sun. We saw Adebayo switching. Adebayo in drop. Adebayo showing. Adebayo in zone. The same went for every lineup when Adebayo was off the floor, but that’s on trend for the past few years as Erik Spoelstra has always used variety and change-of-pace versatility with his bench lineups. Adebayo has always been capable of playing any style of defense necessary – though this is more zone than he’s ever played – yet it’s this year perhaps more than any other when he’s been asked to do so much outside of his greatest area of strength in switching. That speaks both to Adebayo’s dynamism and also to Spoelstra’s flexibility as a coach. For some reason Spoelstra developed a bit of a undeserved reputation for refusing to change coverages over the past couple years – even when Miami was incredible statistically especially when switching – so it’s worth noting now, as it’s happening, that he’s using his best defensive player in every way he can think of.
Miami has had its struggles when Adebayo sits or even when Adebayo is just away from the ball, and that’s something we’ve discussed at length elsewhere, but he’s as good, and maybe even better, than ever where the HEAT need him most.
3. Tim Hardaway was honored at halftime of this one – all night, really, but the ceremony to celebrate his induction into the Hall of Fame was at the break – which gives us an opportunity to talk about just how much he meant to the game. Yes, he was an All-Star. Yes, he’s one of the most important players in franchise history. But it was his style that is just as important as any of the statistics or accolades. When we say style with him the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is his Killer Crossover which became one of the most iconic moves of the 1990’s. What we’re talking about here, though, is how aggressive he was behind the arc. Hardaway’s prime 90’s was before the three-point revolution really started in the mid-2000’s, but he wasn’t just a volume shooter, he was a volume shooter off the dribble. The first major sea change in the NBA happened, post defensive rule alterations, was just about pumping up the number of threes taken and reducing the inefficient two-point shots that were so pervasive in the decade prior. Hardaway was ahead of that one. The second major change came about with the Steph Curry’s and Damian Lillard’s and Trae Young’s of the world, the guards who could end a dribble combo with a 25-footer and punish big men in pick-and-roll. That’s what Hardaway was doing long before his style was recognized as revolutionary – he deserves to be remembered as such. Some artists are just before their time, and Hardaway was as much an artist as he was a great point guard.
For more News about the Miami Heat visit: www.miamiheat.com
For more sports coverage from MLB, NBA, NFL, to NCAA contact Julian Ojeda: Call 786-501-9082 | Email julian@communitynewspapers.com
