How Do The Miami Heat Stack Up To The Best In The West?
By Noah Decker
Miami Heat: How They Stack Up To The Best In The West- Utah Jazz
The Jazz have been one of the top teams in the West for a while now. Led by Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, this team has a powerful combination of offense and defense.
Utah Jazz
Offensively, they are one of the top shooting teams. Some of their best shooters are Bojan Bogdanovic, Donovan Mitchell, and Jordan Clarkson.
When Mitchell or Clarkson start heating up, they are almost impossible to guard. Both can create their own shot and score quickly.
The Jazz also have some of the best rim protection in the NBA. Rudy Gobert is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner and is averaging 2.3 blocks per game this year.
As good as the Jazz are in the regular season, they haven’t quite figured it out yet in the playoffs. Although Donovan Mitchell amplifies his scoring ability in the playoffs, the Jazz have ended up losing several playoff series.
Last year, they blew a 2-0 lead to the Clippers, who rallied back against them without their superstar, Kawhi Leonard. The working recipe that the Clippers discovered last year is to play small and force Gobert out on the perimeter.
Since he is usually sitting by the paint, this often led to open shots. Since the Clippers had good shooters, they were able to hit many threes this way.
If the Miami Heat were to face the Jazz, they could implement this strategy. Statistically, the Heat are the best three-point shooting team in the NBA.
They have a full arsenal of shooters, including Duncan Robinson and Max Strus. In the corner, P.J. Tucker has been particularly efficient from three this year, shooting a career-best 45 percent from beyond the arc.
With Bam Adebayo as the starting center, the Heat already play relatively small. With all of the versatile defenders on their team, the Heat have the flexibility to play small if they need to.
This strategy means that the Heat would live with Gobert scoring inside. Although he has developed offensively, Gobert is not as much of a force on offense where he can win the game for the Jazz by himself.
In addition, if the Heat space the floor well enough, then Bam Adebayo should be able to cover Gobert. Bam is the best defender on the Heat and he can stop Gobert.
First, the Miami Heat need to make it out of the East though, which is already challenging enough. If they are able to do that, then they will certainly have their work cut out for them against any opponent that represents the West.
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This has been a good season for Miami though. Hopefully, some of that will carry on into the playoffs.