Miami Heat: They Should Return To Form From Distance This Season

The Miami Heat have relied a ton on the three point shot in recent seasons. Unlike the Bubble Year, however, last season didn’t see them have the same type of success.

For various reasons, defensive adjustments by the opposition, the stressors of a season such as last one was, or simply just not being as good, could have all been the reasons for a lackluster last season. Here are the numbers.

The Miami Heat ranked 11th in attempts per game last season from range, with 36.2 per game. They only ranked at 19th in percentage though, at 35.8 percent.

In the season prior though, the 2019-20 season, the Miami Heat were top-10 in attempts and number 10 exactly, at 35.1 per game. Percentage wise, they were number two in the league and just behind the Jazz, at 37.9 percent per contest.

The immediate reaction might be that they shot too many threes and there may be something to that. They averaged 1.1 more threes per contest, which isn’t a ton on the surface, but could be enough in the grand scheme of it all to throw a team off, perhaps?

The Miami Heat had a down year last year from range, relative to the year prior. This season though, they should see themselves blazing again from deep.

Then there is also this. With “stressors” in any season, those of last season particularly impacted two of the Miami Heat’s most-relied upon shooters, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.

Though no excuse, the trade rumors probably had them out of it. Among the aformentioned, there were a ton of potential reasons, but this season should see them return to form.

And get this. They probably won’t and shouldn’t, for that matter, reduce their number of attempts.

This season’s roster simply has better shooters, or guys on said roster, that will allow the shooters that they do have, of any nature, to be afforded the best looks they’ve probably had over the course of the last three years.

With more guys that are willing to shoot it as well: a more free Dewayne Dedmon, a guy that will be competing for time with Dedmon in the do-everything Omer Yurtseven, an again-confident P.J. Tucker (39 percent through 20 games in Milwaukee to close last year), a versatile Markieff Morris, and two guys in Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro that should now, fully, know that they are in Miami for a while, at least, it should all spell good things for Miami.

Now, Jimmy Butler has to be better from range too, in order to help the whole process along, but that’s something that should come as well. With Kyle Lowry, the thought should be that he’ll be along the wings more than he has been across the rest of his heat tenure, his natural position.

This should help to facilitate him to regaining his stroke from deep. It’s all sizing up to be a great scenario.

Hopefully that’s the case, anyway. However, that’s why they should fully regain their form from the Bubble Year… or dare I say, surpass it.