Miami Heat: Opposing Stars Going Through Defensive Gauntlet

Miami Heat: Opposing Stars Going Through Defensive Gauntlet

However, it’s all begun with game planning against their opponent’s top-stars, for which they’ve done in a rude and emphatic manner.

RECENT DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES AGAINST TOP STAR OPPONENTS.

• Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo — combined 8-25 shooting, 1-9 three-point, six turnovers, -51 Plus-Minus on October 21st
• James Harden — 14 points, 4-12 shooting and four turnovers; -12 Plus-Minus on October 27th
• LaMelo Ball — 6 points, 4-14 shooting, 0-5 three-point; -11 Plus-Minus on October 29th
• Ja Morant — 20 points, 7-18 shooting, 1-4 three point, Plus-Minus of -31 on October 30th

From one dominant opening-night performance against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, to embarrassing the Brooklyn Nets on the road, the Heat are making life extremely difficult for some of the NBA’s elite talent, which is a very frightening sight this early in the season.

Even if you’re yet to tune in to a Miami Heat game, there’s a slew of reasons for why they’ve been very successful on the defensive end. The neutralization of opposing stars ranks first of them all though.

The footwork in one-on-one coverage, knowing when to hedge through screens, forcing traps, impeccable weak-side rotation, and denying the passing lanes against them… It’s been a literal shop of horrors for the opposition, especially, relative to their typical production.

We’ve seen significantly less zone coverage from Miami because this team is equipped with several players capable of switching. See, the following play.

With the additions of Kyle Lowry and P.J Tucker to a well-anchored tandem of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the Heat now have multiple fallback options defensively.