The Miami Heat’s Goran Dragic has been doing what he’s doing in the playoffs all year long. You all just started paying attention though.
The Miami Heat are just a few won games away from heading to the NBA Finals. Standing in their way is a scrappy, talented, and athletic Boston Celtics team who seemed to have woke up in Game 3.
Indeed they did, but there is also something else. The Miami Heat not only didn’t show up at the beginning of that game, allowing the Celtics to jump out to what would eventually become an insurmountable lead in the first period, but they haven’t shown up to begin any of the games in this series if we’re being totally honest.
While that’s the absolute truth, that’s not the reason we are here today, exclusively. Although, the topic of our chat could and usually does help them get off to better starts.
That would be, one, Goran Dragic.
People have seen what The Dragon has been doing in the playoffs and think that this is some kind of sudden explosion. Well, I am here to tell you that it isn’t and in fact, he has done this all season long.
If you look at his scoring average of 16.2 points per game across this past regular season, you also have to take notice that it was only across 28.2 minutes per contest. If you break that down to a per-minute basis, Dragic was scoring about .57 points per minute that he was on the floor.
The Miami Heat have relied on Goran Dragic a ton throughout this playoff run. The funny thing is this though, it’s the same thing he’s given them all year long.
If you look at his scoring from across the playoffs, he’s averaging 21.25 points per game in the playoffs over around 34.5 minutes per contest. If you break that down to a per-minute basis, he’s averaging .61 points per minute.
Even though small changes when talking data this detailed can mean massive incremental differences, the difference of four-tenths of a point here and especially relative to the total amount is nothing to bicker about. Basically, he is doing almost exactly what he did across the regular season, he’s just had more minutes allotted to him to do his thing in the playoffs.
That’s all. He’s increased his rebounds per game by over one per, from 3.2 per game in the regular season to 4.25 per game in the playoffs.
Although his dimes have gone down, that actually makes sense considering that he has been playing more minutes and subsequently, more minutes along with the starters. Unlike the bench unit that he’s played with the most this season, most, if not all of the starters can create their own shots, which decreases the need for him to create for them and thus decreases his assisting opportunities.
His average has gone down just five-tenths of a point there, from 5.1 in the regular season to 4.6 per game, so like his point per minute figure, it really isn’t anything to bicker about.
So, when you see Goran Dragic doing Goran Dragic Things, such as hitting a tough shot from distance over your elite wing defender or making one of the toughest driving finishes you have ever seen in your life on the way to a near 30 point outburst in the playoffs, just know that it’s pretty par for the course.
It’s what he’s done all year for this Miami Heat team. It’s what he will have to continue to do if they hope to go all the way to and win the NBA Finals.