The Miami Heat officially secured a spot in the NBA postseason. This was expected, of course, but now the Miami Heat can focus on two things: getting the top spot in the East and preparing for the postseason.
The Heat have been one of the stronger teams all year. Even without a fully healthy team, they have won several games this year.
When they are at full strength, they look to be one of the teams competing for the NBA championship.
The Heat have several strengths.
First of all, they are a top-five defensive team in the league. Second, they have excellent leadership, both from a player’s standpoint through Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem, while they also get it from their staff through Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley.
They also have the best bench scorer in the entire NBA, Tyler Herro.
The Miami Heat also have a few glaring weaknesses that have become obvious after their four-game skid last week. If these issues are not addressed, it will make it harder for them to beat the top teams in the NBA in a best-of-seven series.
Here are what their top weaknesses currently are and why they need to be solved before the postseason.
Miami Heat: Weaknesses To Address Before NBA Playoffs- Limit Turnovers
The Miami Heat have several skilled playmakers on their team who are excellent at sharing the ball with their teammates. However, that does not mean that they do not struggle with turning the basketball over.
Taking Care Of The Basketball
Their four players who lead them in minutes per game also lead them in turnovers per game. All four average over two turnovers each game, with the worst being 2.7 per game.
The Heat are the fifth-worst team in the NBA in the turnover category. This is a huge issue because opponents average 16.7 points off of those Miami Heat turnovers.
Although they do a good job of capitalizing off of their own forced turnovers on the defensive end, they need to tighten up offensively so that their opponent is not beating them off transition buckets on the break.
There are several great defensive teams, especially in the East, who can force a lot of turnovers. Many of those teams are also great at scoring in transition.
One of the best examples of that is the Milwaukee Bucks. If the Heat are too careless with the basketball and allow Giannis Antetokounmpo to run in transition the whole game, they will have a tough time beating the Bucks.
That’s just one example though, as again, the East, alone, is full of them.
Miami Heat: Weaknesses To Address Before NBA Playoffs- Consistent Scoring
The Miami Heat are about in the middle of the pack when it comes to team scoring. When you consider only playoff teams, they sink a little bit more towards the bottom.
Consistent Scoring
That isn’t a huge problem when you play with as great of a defense as Miami does, meaning you hold your opponents to a lower scoring effort, thus alleviating the need to be the best scorers out there.
The major issue is that their scoring generally only comes from a handful of players. Jimmy Butler is very reliable, Bam is generally reliable, Herro has become very consistent as a scorer off the bench, and Kyle Lowry has stepped up recently over his last eight games or so, looking to be getting into a playoff mode.
Aside from those four players though, the Heat have needed to rely on other players having a good night to shoulder the rest of the scoring load.
Usually, someone has stepped up for Miami and this is not an issue. We have seen Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, and many other players have great games for the Heat when their regulars needed a hand.
However, this is not always the case. The problem becomes even worse if one of those players is missing from the rotation.
Without Tyler Herro, the Heat have a huge problem with scoring in their second unit. He always provides a spark by scoring in bunches.
When Herro does not play, that scoring is lost. There isn’t too much that can be done to fix this issue.
The best thing Miami can do to address their lack of consistent scoring is to keep everyone healthy and to make sure that they continue to play lockdown defense. When they play that way, they score off of opponent turnovers in transition and limit their opponent to a low-scoring game.
That is a recipe for victory.
Miami Heat: Weaknesses To Address Before NBA Playoffs- Closing Games
The Heat have the right players to close games effectively. Jimmy Butler has been a trusted and reliable closer for most of his career.
Closing Games
Kyle Lowry can be trusted to make the right basketball decisions late in the game and find his teammates. Tyler Herro has also shown that he lives for the big moments.
That being said, the Heat haven’t been as effective as they could be in the clutch. There have been several instances where they have blown leads, as well as shown an inability to make big shots when they were needed.
That might come from a lack of consistent scoring, a lack of foul calls, or just plain fatigue. No matter what the problem is though, it needs to be solved.
Some of the most important missed shots have been free throws. These are critical, yet free, shots that need to be made, especially late in the fourth quarter.
Missing them gives teams a chance to get back into the game. The Heat also need Jimmy Butler to step up and take over the game.
He usually attacks the basket but hasn’t been getting foul calls as much as he would prefer. They are going to need him to hit some big shots in the postseason.
There are definitely going to be close games in the playoffs. If they are unable to close out games effectively, then they are going to struggle to win a playoff series.
However, if you trust any team to be able to get it right, it’s the one that has shown you the highs and lows that this one has over the last two weeks.