This is why they’re hot: Breaking down the Miami Heat’s transformation

Erik Spoelstra has led a dramatic shift by the Miami Heat from one of the slowest teams in the NBA to one of the fastest, and hottest.

What a difference a break makes.

Since the All-Star break, the Miami Heat are 7-2 and beginning to pull away from a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race. The Heat are firmly in the playoff picture, currently two games up from the Atlanta Hawks for the no. 4 seed.

While teams like the Hawks, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons have faltered in the last several games, Miami is playing its best basketball of the season. In fact, they’re almost a completely different basketball team all together.

Entering the All-Star break, the Heat were among the slowest teams in the NBA, averaging 94.7 possessions per 48 minutes. A mark that was second to last in the league. Since the break, the Heat are top 10 in the league in pace, averaging 101.08 possessions per 48 minutes.

So, by allowing Goran Dragic to push the ball and for forwards who grab a defensive rebound to bring the ball up the floor, the Heat have shoehorned in nearly seven more possessions per game.

In doing so, the Heat have leapt from scoring 96 points per game to 108.7 points per game. Nearly 13 more points per game! It’s not as if the Heat are gunning more, the onus is still finding efficient shots. Miami’s true shooting percentage has increased from 53.7 percent before the All-Star break to 54.4 percent, and the team is scoring 106.5 points per 100 possessions, up from 101.4.

More heat: Are the Heat deeper than ever?

So what’s changed?

Erik Spoelstra’s tweaks that allow his forwards–Luol Deng, Justise Winslow, Josh McRoberts and, now, Joe Johnson–to push the ball up the floor are well reported.

Then there is Dragic’s role. Before the break, Dragic was using 19.7 percent of Miami’s possessions. Since the break, he’s using 24.7 percent of Miami’s possessions. What’s more is that those extra possessions haven’t come at the cost of Dwyane Wade–still Miami’s best scorer. Wade is still hovering above 30 percent in usage.

Some of that can be attributed to Chris Bosh’s absence and Hassan Whiteside moving to the bench, but Spoelstra has also staggered Dragic’s and Wade’s minutes more often. Before the break, Dragic and Wade shared the court for 25 minutes per game. Since then, they are playing 20.1 minutes per game with each other.

Those five minutes with Wade have basically been switched to Deng. Since the break, no two Heat players share the court more than Dragic and Deng, who play 29 minutes per game together and are plus-9.1 in those stretches. That same pair before the break played an average of 25.5 minutes per game together and were a minus-0.4 points per game. That number, more than anything, represents the shift in Miami. Dragic–handling the ball and initiating the offense more often–and Deng–now playing as a stretch-4–are thriving.

None of this newfound offense has come at the expense of defense, either. Miami is still among the top defensive teams in the league, allowing just 97.9 points per 100 possessions since the break.*

The Heat are also terrific at ending opponents’ possessions. A lot of that has to do with board-gobbling Whiteside, but also the increased activity of Miami’s forwards on the glass.* As a team, Miami has a defensive rebound rating of 80.2 percent.

However, the one sore spot since the All-Star break has been allowing opponents to score second-chance points. The Heat are allowing an alarming four second-chance points per game since the break. Before the break, Miami was among the best in NBA allowing less than one second-chance point per game. Some of this can be attributed to Miami going small sooner and more often, but that shouldn’t result in going from one of the best to one of the worst in the league overnight.

Despite the addition of Johnson, the Heat are still a poor 3-point shooting team. Johnson has been good, and Gerald Green finally woke up in a recent win against the Philadelphia 76ers but, in general, the Heat don’t have many floor spacers.

“Between Wade, Dragic and Whiteside, Spoelstra has three of the best finishers in the game at his disposal. He’s playing to his players’ strengths…”

Deng had a couple of games there where he made five of seven 3s, but outside of those two games Deng has made just two-of-18 3-pointers since transitioning to power forward. Opponents have been respecting Deng’s shot recently, but they’ll catch on at some point and more willingly help off of him. Yes, sometimes someone will get hot, but when they get cold, it makes things very difficult for Dragic, Wade and Whiteside to get space in the paint.

Still, the Heat are getting it done without shooting 3s. Save for Johnson, they have basically made like a Wade and have given up on the area behind the arc. Miami is averaging a league-low 14 3-point attempts per game since the break, with only 12.3 percent of their points coming off 3-pointers, the fewest in the NBA by wide margin.* Since the break, 51.7 percent of Miami’s points come in the paint and 68.7 percent of its points are 2-pointers. Both marks are, by far, tops in the NBA.

Between Wade, Dragic and Whiteside, Spoelstra has three of the best finishers in the game at his disposal. He’s playing to his players’ strengths by devising a plan of stressing opposing defenses near the rim. Miami is basically a drive and kick team, but they don’t extend all the way to the 3-point line. They kick it out to get open mid-range shots, averaging 15.9 shots between 15 and 19 feet a game, per NBA.com. A mark, if extrapolated for the season, would be topped only by the Pacers and Spurs.

Look at how much room Deng has to get off his jumper, as Bulls rookie Bobby Portis gets sucked in by the threat of Dragic or Whiteside finishing at the rim.

As mentioned above, Dragic and Deng work well together. Deng is the first one to get out on the break after a steal or Whiteside block or defensive rebound, and is a ninja when it comes to filling lanes in transition.

Spoelstra’s tightened up the rotation by necessity. The Heat have only 11 active players and Spoelstra plays about eight or nine guys a night. That’s great for building chemistry and finding a cadence, but I do worry when guys get tired that Miami’s short bench will come back to bite them.

More heat: Joe Johnson fitting in with the Heat

Spoelstra is well regarded for his ability to coach to his personnel. He doesn’t impose a rigid system and can introduce and teach adjustments on the fly as well as anyone. The transformation of the Heat is impressive, and has Spoelstra has Miami positioned as one of the hottest teams in the league as the playoffs approach.

*The Heat allowed 100.6 points per 100 possessions before the All-Star break

**Before the break, Winslow and Deng averaged 4.2 and 3.7 defensive rebounds per game. Since then, they are averaging 6.9 and 5.0 defensive rebounds respectively.

***Milwaukee is next with 17.8 percent.