The Miami Heat had an opportunity to make a statement against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, the last night before beginning a five-game road trip that begins tonight in Milwaukee.
Unfortunately, that statement was We’re not very good.
As has been the case for most the season, Miami’s defense was porous, allowing Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroeder quality shots at the rim or along the perimeter (where the duo finished 5-of-8 from 3-point range). Despite league-leader Kyle Korver having an off night, Miami gave up 12-of-25 3-pointers on Wednesday, en route to a 10-point loss. The situation is getting dire and it looks to get worse as Luol Deng, arguably the Heat’s most consistent defender, is out for some time due to a bruised right hand that he suffered versus the Hawks. There’s been no word yet on who will start in Deng’s place.
The Heat have had to scramble with their player rotations all season long and that looks to be case on Friday. Norris Cole, who sat out the Hawks games, could be back in the lineup but, if not, expect Mario Chalmers to get the starting nod again. Josh McRoberts started in the last game (finishing with 4 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in 21 minutes) so Shawne Williams could get some time in Deng’s place. Other options include rookie James Ennis or Danny Granger, who is again available after playing nine scoreless minutes on Wednesday.
But Chris Bosh sees the team’s defensive woes as a growing concern, and broke it down for the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman here:
"“Everybody knows that if we’re not going to handle dribble penetration, if we’re not going to guard the high screen and rolls, if we’re not going to guard our guys, if we’re not taking that challenge every night, we’re going to be in bad positions. Now, granted, we do have to make sure we’re working the offense, taking good shots, getting back on defense and all those things, but we’ve got to be a little barbaric in the sense that it’s mano a mano, and, ‘I’m going to take care of this guy right now. And if he moves it, now I can help my guy out. We’re relying on the help too much right now. And it’ll help us to know that our help is there, but, ‘I need to stop this guy from penetrating on me, from posting me up, just scoring on me,’ period.”"
Easier said than done, particularly against the Milwaukee Bucks (10-10) unconventional lineups. Giannis Antetokounmpo, at 6’11”, starts at forward along with with rookie Jabari Parker in the frontcourt. Both players are playing somewhat out of position but it’s worked so far, as they created matchup problems for opponents. It helps to have rim protector Larry Sanders at center, where he leads the team with 1.7 blocks per game. The Bucks’ backcourt of Brandon Knight and O.J. Mayo can be dangerous; Knight in particular gave Miami problems in November 16 victory over the Heat. He scored 20 points that night, although Wade had missed that game while recovering his hamstring.
The Bucks aren’t very deep but they get a boost from Khris Middleton and Zaza Pachulia. With Miami’s weakness guarding bigs, you can expect that problem to persist tonight.
It’s difficult to predict exactly what to expect tonight, given Miami’s play of late. The problems seem easy to identify but much harder to actually correct and inconsistent lineups certainly don’t help. But the Heat will have to take a stand before they drop lower in the Eastern Conference seeding and one hopes it will happen sooner rather later.
The game starts at 8:30 tonight from the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Check back with All U Can Heat for a recap, post-game grades and analysis.