Heat Struggle To Find Itself Against Hawks

The sky is falling!

(I’m kidding.)

The Miami Heat returned to the American Airlines Arena after their trip to Brazil over the weekend looking to get on the winning track, but unfortunately fell to the Atlanta Hawks 109-103. After jumping out to a 14-0 lead in route to a 31-16 start after the first quarter, the Heat stumbled the rest of the way, as the defense is still not where Coach Erik Spoelstra expects it to be, while also giving new faces some time to shine in the spotlight.

The Hawks were able to get center Al Horford back on the floor for the first time since tearing his pectoral muscle back on December 26. Atlanta had started last season 16-13 and were sitting as the third seed in the Eastern Conference when the injury occurred. Atlanta would stumble to the finish, while clinging to the eighth seed. With Horford back, the Hawks are going to be an interesting team to watch in the Southeast Division.

As for the game itself, well…

Things that pleased me: All aboard! The James Ennis Express is off and running! Although he only played 19 minutes, he finished with 10 points and 3 rebounds, as he’s averaging 25 points and 9 rebounds per 36 minutes of action this preseason. He hit both his shots from beyond the arc, as he’s showing that he can help this team be a deep threat as this roster needs someone to step up in that capacity. He also showed very active hands on defense, as he was swiping the ball away and getting in the way of passes on his way to recording 5 steals. It’s safe to say that he’s locked down a spot in the rotation.

Chris Bosh finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds in 30 minutes of action, as he’s taken to his new role with ease. Bosh is using both his jumper, as well as his speed off of pump-fakes, and is imposing himself on both ends of the floor. His adjustment was something that many questioned whether he could pull off, but so far, so good.

Although he didn’t shoot particularly well (4 for 12), Dwyane Wade did other things to help the Heat out, by gathering 5 rebounds and dishing 5 assists. Even on nights when his shot isn’t falling, just having Wade being active in other facets of the game is important. He did hit two threes and went 6 for 9 from the line.

Shabazz Napier has shown that he brings something to the table, but there’s still work to be done with him. He went 4 for 8, with 12 points and 4 assists. Mario Chalmers’ absence was good news for Napier, as Spoelstra gave him minutes alongside Wade and Bosh, which helped Miami finish the game on a 21-11 run. Sadly that run wasn’t enough for the Heat to bounce back from…

Things that annoyed me: Welp! That third quarter was pretty bad. The Hawks shot 64% from the field in the quarter (67% from downtown) on their way to outscoring the Heat 43-18 in the period. That was Finals-level bad defense by Miami. What’s particularly annoying is that Atlanta did a majority of their damage on jumpers, shooting 8 for 12 from beyond 15 feet in the quarter. The Heat’s rotations on defense were slow closing out on shooters, which can be expected when trying to mix in new players in to the system. But it should be pretty basic to not leave guys like Kyle Korver open!

Offensively, the Heat were flat after a strong first quarter, going a combined 13 for 34 in the second and third quarters, before picking it up in the fourth, when Wade and Bosh came in against the Hawks second and third stringers. The Heat failed to move the ball around the perimeter, settling for one-on-one opportunities or, in the case of Shannon Brown, trying to fake behind the back passes, then fumbling going to the hoop. Miami won’t have You Know Who to bail them out when things start to sputter, so working the ball around to the best spots is going to be important for the Heat on that end of the floor.

Things that perplexed me: The Hawks brought the Pac back! But couldn’t Atlanta bring back the awesome Dominique Wilkins era jerseys with it? Not that there’s anything wrong with the current jerseys; they’re just sort of there. Come on, Atlanta, you’ve had a rough summer. Make everyone happy again and bring the old uniforms back!

Scale of 1 to 10, how bad did I want to throw a lamp because of Mario Chalmers?: N/A. Chalmers sat out with a hip injury. He probably could have played had it been a regular season game. Just picture in your mind Chalmers hitting the occasional open three or driving to the basket without a goal in mind. You know what I’m talking about: he drives to the hoop, but realizes that he’s not as tall as the people waiting for him, so he circles around like an old person looking for parking at the mall and resets. Just thinking of this is an automatic 3.

What we’ve learned: The Heat are a work in progress. Spoelstra is still mixing and matching lineups to see what works best. Granted, he’s without Josh McRoberts, Udonis Haslem, and Chalmers, and he gave guys like Brown, Napier, and Shawne Williams more minutes to show what they’ve got.

It does seem like we’re getting a better feel for what the final rotation is going to be. Wade, McRoberts, Bosh, Luol Deng, and Norris  Cole as starters, with Chalmers, Granger, Ennis, and Chris Andersen coming off the bench. I think Brown sticks around as a backup guard (probably in a “Toney Douglas” role), so that’s a ten man rotation. Haslem will get random minutes against more physical opponents, so he’s number eleven.

Then there’s Napier. Can the Heat give minutes to three point guards? Again, he’s shown that he has a better handle on the speed of the game, as opposed to what happened in Summer League. There’s no need to rush him, however, since Cole and Chalmers have a better feel for the system at this point. Maybe if one of those two start slow, Napier can wedge his way into the rotation. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these guys isn’t moved by the trade deadline.

Panic Meter: N/A. It’s still the preseason. One has to belive that when the rotations gets locked down, things will settle into place. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. But in all seriousness, the Heat were without two rotation players, while giving minutes to those fighting for roster spots, so expecting them to be in midseason form is a bit of a stretch. Thankfully, October 29 is 15 days away, so Coach Spoelstra still has time to piece this all together.