Miami Heat Fine-Tuning Offense And Defense Going Into Stretch Run
By Eric Fritts
Miami Heat: Late-Game Offense Is Key, But So Is Defending The Break
The thing to really focus on is the defense. The playoffs are an entirely different world when it comes to schemes and strategy.
Typically things slow down, which is good news for the Miami Heat. They currently sit at fifth in half-court defense, per cleaningtheglass.com.
This means they can lock guys up and play efficiently when it really counts. The bad news is they’re 22nd in transition defense.
Transition does typically go down in the playoffs but in a seven-game series, some teams will try to use that to their advantage. Basically, the Heat need to find a way to keep up with faster teams when it counts.
The next 20 games or so will be vital to that. Keeping track of defensive tendencies as the team experiments will be interesting.
The main benefit of this run will be having a fully healthy roster, but that doesn’t mean everything will magically fall into place. Transition defense is difficult, naturally.
It’s a game of efficiency, motion, and conditioning, all of which the Heat usually thrive in. Once the playoffs commence, the Heat will find advantages there, using a deep bench to stay fresh while other teams might be gassed.
What it all really comes down to in this run is the Miami Heat needing to play like themselves and then piling on top of that, something they are very capable of. It’s still rather perplexing that this team is not being discussed among other contenders but it’s also the quintessential Heat thing of this era.
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This team almost feels happy being slept on but Spoelstra showed he’s not happy to just cruise into the playoffs. He wants this team to work and be functioning at peak efficiency once the playoffs come.
The hope should be strong that they will.