Player exit review: Willie Reed makes big strides
By Simon Smith
Interesting stat: 101.8
This number represents Reed’s defensive rating for the season. Ranking second on the Heat just behind forward Justise Winslow (101.5 over 18 games), this was an impressive feat by the second-year center.
League-wide, Reed ranked 20th in defensive rating for all players who played in at least 60 games and averaged at least 12 minutes per game. Considering 14 of these 20 players came from either the San Antonio Spurs or the Golden State Warriors (ranked first and second among all teams for defensive rating ) makes it all the more admirable.
Of these 20 players, Jonathon Simmons of the Spurs had the premier defensive rating at 96.7. Throughout the season, Reed eclipsed this mark on 25 occasions, a terrific effort considering the difference in the overall records of the two teams.
His most impressive individual defensive rating game came against the Brooklyn Nets. With the Heat trailing by 18 points at the end of the third term, Reed was one of the catalysts in turning things around for a 109-106 win. In 24 minutes, Reed posted an incredible defensive rating of 66.0, for an overall net rating of 61.2.
While Reed averaged just 14.5 minutes per game, he did manage to block two or shots on 10 occasions, including three games of three blocked shots.