Miami Heat Makes and Misses: Whiteside struggles, others surge

Make: Goran Dragic

After a slow start to the season, Goran Dragic had one of his best runs of the season this week and it’s no surprise that it resulted in three Heat wins.

Dragic looked like his old self after sitting out a few games, running the Heat offense with the type of precision that earned the team a stunning 119 offensive rating with him on the floor. And a meager 88 when he heads to the bench.

Spoelstra did his best to limit Dragic’s minutes after the point guard lead his native Slovenia in EuroBasket during an unusually busy, competitive summer, that led to a slow, sluggish start to the NBA season.

Sure, Dragic’s numbers on the season are still down compared to last year, particularly in the paint. He’s coming in at just 55 percent on shots inside 10 feet, compared to 64 percent last year. But his patented impact on the offense is starting to rise to the surface, as the Heat experience their most fruitful offensive period of the season, combined with a clean sheet thus far in 2018.

More than just overall offensive rating, Dragic has such an impact on the flow of the offense that his teammates are set up for better shots when he’s out on the floor. The Heat’s true shooting percentage rises to nearly 60 percent (59.1) with him running the offense, while falling to 48.6 percent off.

All of these numbers are incredibly encouraging for the second half of Dragic’s season and it appears as if the recent minute restriction is going to pay dividends to the Heat’s winning ways, as they position themselves for a deep playoff run thanks to their offensive leader.