Miami Heat Game Observations: Justise Winslow versus the Hawks

The Miami Heat fell short to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, 123-118, but Justise Winslow had himself quite a game.

Welcome to the first installment of Game Observations, where I will be writing about one Miami Heat player and their contributions per game.

Today we will be discussing and analyzing Justise Winslow’s performance against the Atlanta Hawks last night.

The Heat fell short 123-118, to fall to 3-5 on the young season.

Now I may know what you are thinking: yeah, I watched the game or caught the highlights, what more can you really tell me? Well, I am about to go into detail about his movements, defense, and decision making.

(Truthfully, I did think about writing on Josh Richardson and his career-high of 32 points, but when I saw that Winslow was going to start at point guard for the injured Goran Dragic, I was intrigued; especially,since I don’t believe he is very good when it comes to ball handling.)

First Quarter

Winslow, despite playing point guard, doesn’t even bring the ball up.

It’s Richardson that does.

Then, his first shot attempt is an air balled 3. Yikes. Lucky for him, Rodney McGruder was there to clean up his mess.

However, Winslow’s defense is still very good, and that’s why he gets many minutes.

Next time he touches the ball, he does a good job of feeding Kelly Olynyk the ball, despite it being a missed 3. Progress.

Let’s go back to his defense though, as he guards sharpshooter Trae Young on a switch. Young misses a 3-point attempt. He then is tasked with guarding Vince Carter, after coming back in when Dwyane Wade needs some rest.

(Look, I know Vince is 98-years-old but he still has a decent jump shot.)

Winslow draws a foul on Carter. He also blocks a Dewayne Dedmon lay up attempt. And grabs a rebound off of a missed 3 by Wade. So far, not bad.

Second Quarter

Winslow immediately draws contact upon bringing the ball up. How about that? And he makes both free throws to score his first two points of the game.

He grabs another rebound.

But then, things become slightly rocky.

Winslow leaves Omari Spellman wide open. He misses a switch which leads to Kent Bazemore blowing past him. He air balls a hook shot.

The inconsistency continues.

Winslow ends the half guarding Jeremy Lin and preventing a layup attempt.

Third Quarter

Now Winslow is on Taurean Prince, and he looks confident again.

He feeds Hassan Whiteside for a dunk.

He picks off a pass by Carter.

Playoff Winslow seems to be making his return.

Fourth Quarter

Winslow is back in the lineup and starts things off by grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed Tyler Johnson 3. He then drives to the basket and makes a left handed baby hook, for his first made field goal of the game. It’s about time.

Then, he makes one from downtown, off a Johnson assist. Winslow is about to heat up.

(He’s also called for a questionable foul, but there were plenty of those to go around, including the flagrant one he picked up later on.)

His defense is still on point too, as he blocks a DeAndre Bembry layup and draws a smart foul on Alex Len, who split the free throws.

A few layups and rebounds later, and although the Heat couldn’t hold on against the Hawks, Winslow had himself a nice game; he recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on the night, in only his fourth game back for Miami. He certainly got going more in the second half, when it was unfortunately too little, too late, for the Heat.

The Miami Heat face off against the Detroit Pistons tomorrow, November 5, at 7 PM ET.