‘Little things’ make or break the Miami Heat… no matter the opposition

The Miami Heat have been an up-and-down team thus far on the season, whether anyone wants to believe it or not, and though they have looked more “down” than “up” for the most part to the naked eye.

But, just a quick glimpse at some of their successes on the year shows what they can be when it all comes together. On the other hand and to remain as fair as possible, that quick glimpse can also reveal some “not so good” things as well.

But that’s just it. The Miami Heat can compete with and actually beat anybody in the league on a given night. The problem is that they can lose to anybody on a given night right now as well.

But where is the line of contrast between those wins and losses? If their season was represented by a Venn Diagram, what would be in the middle sections, the part that the compared parties share?

The Miami Heat have thrived by doing the ‘little things’ well for so long. No different now, it’s the difference between Ws and Ls, no matter the opposition.

Well, it would have to be the little things.

Things like giving effort, rotating hard, not taking the easy routes out of plays such as cheating on getting around screens or covering on help defense, and one of the most basic premises of the game—boxing out on rebounds can all be considered “little things”.

You also consider something like making your free throws a little thing, as it is a fundamental practice of the game. Though the Miami Heat have been one of the better free-throwing teams on the year, they have fallen off there a bit recently, most notably their best player in Jimmy Butler.

When you look at games like their defeat to Detroit and their most recent dropped game to Chicago, the little things are what ultimately got them beat, allowing a team to come back on them by not finishing sequences and allowing those same unfinished sequences to quell any comeback momentum they may have been able to build at any given time.

In their wins against teams like Boston and Phoenix, two of the top teams in the league and in their respective conferences, the little things are what allowed the Miami Heat to walk away with wins. They played good solid team defense, moved the ball to get the best looks on offense, and finished sequences with hard work and effort.

It’s really not that hard and once they can find a way to execute in those areas more than they don’t—this season should begin to see things turn around a bit as well.