The 100 Club
One belief the Heat can’t seem to shake throughout the Association, is their inability to score 100 points in a game.
In the past three seasons, the Heat have increased the number of games in which they have scored 100 points (43, 49, 50).
So you may ask if they got to the target score 50 times last season, what’s the big deal?
Out of the 50, 100 point scoring contests, the Heat only managed to win 32 of those (64 percent).
That’s down drastically from the two seasons prior (75 and 73 percent, respectively).
Last season, nine of those games went to overtime, and the Heat only came out on top in three of them.
According to this data, the issue is not getting to 100 points anymore. The problem with the Miami Heat is closing the deal once they reach that score.
This season, they have to find a way to either get the firepower (Butler) to compete in overtime games, or just outright win those games where they score 100 or more points.
It all comes back to the free throw line.
Out of the nine overtime loses with 100 points scored, the Heat only shot higher than league average (76.7 percent) three times.
When you’re attempting 20+ free throws in these loses, it’s down right unacceptable to miss that much.
The team must improve their free throw shooting if they want to secure more wins in the 2018-2019 season, and avoid embarrassing overtime losses to teams like last year’s Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets, and Orlando Magic.
It’s time for another season .