Is the Miami Heat’s youth movement finally finding success?
The Miami Heat, staffed with only eight players, managed a 21-2 run over the home court favorite Los Angeles Clippers. Was the tight-knit rotation a sign of things to come?
The Miami Heat’s 23-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers last night was an unexpected continuation of the team’s west coast road trip.
The Heat entered the game with nine active players—Josh Richardson, Wayne Ellington, Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic were all sidelined or absent for one reason or another. But the roster was quickly reduced to eight, after Tyler Johnson took a Tobias Harris knee to the hip, and sat out the rest of the contest.
Through a combination of Miami’s solid play and Los Angeles’ cold feet, the Heat managed to run away with a win from one of the best home court teams in the league. The Clippers were 9-1 at home heading into Saturday’s matchup, as they continue to take the league by surprise.
Taking the victory with such low levels of attendance deserves recognition. Head coach Erik Spoelstra has been toying with rotations all season, but he has come up short more times than not, judging by Miami’s 11-14 record.
However, being artificially restricted to a shortened rotation, helped Miami wall out any and all of the Clippers tricks.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers tried to stump the Heat with an appearance by 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic, a move which fell short thanks to Bam Adebayo outclassing Marjanovic’s size with speed. Not even appearances by the NBA’s leading bench scorers, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, were capable of slowing Miami.
Thus, the Heat victory begs the question: is Miami’s youth movement working?
Of course, the answer is more complicated than it seems.
In some senses, the heightened focus of Miami’s youth is having some net benefits. In these last two games alone, Justise Winslow is finding his footing, having notched back-to-back 20-point nights for the first time in his career.
The former Duke Blue Devil became the team’s starting point guard on Miami’s Dragic-less night, and he showed what an extra dose of confidence can do. Notoriously a poor shooter, Winslow has begun to pair his catch and shoot game, with smart attacks on the basket.
In the front court, Adebayo is getting his chance to shape Miami’s play as well. On this road trip, Adebayo is averaging 18 points and nine rebounds.
His production still falls shy of Whiteside’s numbers on the glass, but his added mobility is helping Miami increase their tempo. Replacing Whiteside in the starting lineup in these last two games has boosted Miami’s pace by two points per 100 possessions, compared to the rest of the season.
As with anything in life, more practice yields better results. Miami’s slate of absences is providing opportunities to try out new configurations, while forcing better production from the team’s youngest members.
Still standing in the way of total youth autonomy, however, is the stayed reliance on Dwyane Wade’s veteran savvy.
The idea of successful youth movement in recent seasons, can be traced back to the Philadelphia 76ers. After floundering for nearly half a decade, Philadelphia’s acquisition of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid led the charge with forming a successful, young core.
The Sixers also began to rely on other young players; Dario Saric, Robert Covington and T.J. McConnell each had important roles in shaping the Sixers’ 52-30, 2017-18 season.
But underscoring that success were a variety of veteran players. Amir Johnson was the soul and backbone of a still malleable franchise. JJ Redick, Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli helped Philadelphia curry favor with the 3-point line.
While the Miami Heat have the battle-tested Wade and Udonis Haslem to fill some of those veteran voids, their eventual retirement hides Miami’s future in a fog.
Beyond Wayne Ellington’s 3-point shooting, the rest of Miami’s veterans lack the specialization that could complement the growth of the team’s core. And, without salary space, Miami is left to hope that its current supporting cast will be able to morph into one that can accent its youth.
Role players have always been integral to Miami’s success. Any of Miami’s deepest teams were teeming with bench pieces—Shane Battier, Mike Miller, James Posey, Alonzo Mourning (I can keep going).
For now, wins are wins. Miami does not have the ideal set up for longevity, and piling on injuries is yet another step backwards.
Next. Miami Heat Roundtable: Is the organization moving in the right direction?. dark
Still, Miami has history on its side. When do the Heat stay out of the playoff picture long term?