The stretch run is here for the Miami Heat. It’s the time of year that is essentially the pre-season to the post-season.
Does that make sense? Well, to clarify, it’s the final stretch of games that runs into the playoffs, starting right after the All-Star Break.
While most view All-Star weekend as the halfway point of the season, it’s actually much closer to the three-quarter mark.
This is when teams are getting their lineups together and really jockeying for position.
Miami currently sits at the top of the East with the number one seed, a full two games up on Chicago after bludgeoning them on Monday. They, obviously, want to stay there, as the East is proving to be a circus.
Full of hard-hitting contention within the conference, home-court will be especially valuable this year. So, what do the Heat need to do to maintain pole position?
Let’s look into that scenario a bit. It’s really not as complex as it may seem on the surface.
Miami Heat: Fine-Tuning Offense And Defense Going Into Stretch Run
One question being frequently brought up is the Miami Heat’s offense. Will they have enough playmaking at the end of the game?
One of the main criticisms you hear is that at the end of a game, they tend to run too much isolation for Jimmy Butler instead of running a more egalitarian offense. However, this doesn’t appear to be an issue.
Coach Erik Spoelstra saw an opportunity in their recent win against the Spurs and did something relatively unheard of. He, straight up, just benched Jimmy, wanting to see if the other pieces could get it done.
It’s almost as if he heard the criticism and said “ok, watch this.” With a team of Kyle Lowry, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro the talent is there, now is when it’s all seeming to come together.
It was a bold move by Coach Spoelstra but no one should have been surprised. This is what the stretch run is all about.
How is the team going to perform in the playoffs under differing conditions and how do you prepare for it? Those are the types of questions that teams answer in this portion of the season.
What are a few more of Miami’s questions though?
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.
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.