Miami Heat Makes and Misses: Lineup struggles and a new front court
By Rob Slater
A look at the positives and negatives from the last week of Miami Heat Basketball.
There’s something about the Miami Heat and the month of January.
Once again, the Heat are surging in the standings to start the calendar year, ascending to fourth in the Eastern Conference and just a game behind the third place Cleveland Cavaliers with a matchup looming. A 10-4 month (so far) has erased the uneven start of the season, that kept the team hovering around the .500 mark.
The last week of games for the Heat once again solidified the team’s “next man up” ethos, as they played a pair of shorthanded games on the road in Charlotte and Houston, beating the Hornets and controlling the Rockets until a late run by James Harden and Chris Paul put the game away. It was back home to Miami for a frustrating, lethargic last second loss against Sacramento and finally another win over division rival Charlotte.
Even though the Heat were 2-2 during this stretch, they competed in every game thanks to their versatility and depth. Even if the final result wasn’t what they wanted, the Heat are beginning to find that total consistency that they’ve been searching for, since injuries plagued the beginning of their year.
More than that, a surge of young talent is beginning to round into form, including rookie Bam Adebayo, along with third-year players Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow. Combined with the versatility of veterans like Kelly Olynyk and Wayne Ellington, the Heat have been able to deploy a number of different offense and defensive looks to keep their opponent guessing.