Miami Heat 3 Goals Revisited: Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson

The Miami Heat celebrate during the game against China during Day 1 of the 2019 Las Vegas Summer League (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat celebrate during the game against China during Day 1 of the 2019 Las Vegas Summer League (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Miami Heat, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson
Duncan Robinson #55 and Kendrick Nunn #25 of the Miami Heat hi-five during a game against the Atlanta Hawks(Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

Take advantage of opportunities

This final goal is the key to the whole thing. Taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves is how Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson got to this lofty position in the first place.

If Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow‘s injuries hadn’t left the point guard spot utterly vacant, and if Dion Waiters hadn’t gotten suspended three times and missed the whole season so far, Nunn and Robinson may never have gotten the chance to flourish the way they have. Of course, getting the opportunity itself is only half the battle, and that’s the part that’s almost entirely all luck in the first place.

Converting on the opportunity is what matters, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. While it’s wonderful for them that they’ve performed so well, it’s also clear that to some degree they’ve saved the season for the Miami Heat so far. Without their performances, it’s a near certainty that the Heat wouldn’t be 22-8, knocking on the door of second place in the Eastern Conference.

Overall

There have been a number of great performances on the Miami Heat roster so far this season, but it’s hard to imagine a clean sweep of three goals as decisive as this one. Unless we want to count Maten not making the roster as a failure and hold it against the whole of them (and we don’t), this is a major victory.

For all three goals, we evaluate this as an overwhelming success.