With the Miami Heat coming off what can arguably be described as their most complete win of the season on Wednesday night, you take the time to applaud them for finally being able to put it all together for 40-plus minutes of action.
But then, after that brief moment and before moving on, you think about what exactly it was that took place Wednesday.
And while there are many ways to frame it, the best way to do so would be to use the Miami Heat themselves. When you look at their last two games, they both saw themselves as blowouts by halftime—or at least, appeared to be that way.
And while the Miami Heat were on the wrong side on Monday in Atlanta, of both the final result and the blowout, the sequence of events wasn’t quite the same. And that’s just it.
That’s the key to it all. Hear us out for a second.
Peak ‘Miami Heat Ball’ Differentiated By Pelicans Win and Hawks Defeat
Though both of the games looked similar, from the perspective of what was happening, the difference in the final results speaks to how it looks when a team like the Miami Heat is clicking on all cylinders, as opposed to most other teams in this shoot first and shoot last NBA of today’s era.
The Atlanta Hawks were able to go up big because of their bonkers first-half offense. Shooting 70 percent from the field and 70 percent from three, for the most part, in the first half, that’s hard to beat no matter what the opposition is doing.
That didn’t fully sustain though, which eventually allowed the Miami Heat a chance to actually win the game. Though Miami wasn’t able to fully close the gap, they got within just a few possessions of doing so after sustaining Atlanta’s napalm of a first half.
As the Miami Heat went up big on the New Orleans Pelicans, it wasn’t really due to their offense. They were average in the first half and if you must credit them somewhere, slightly above average overall from the field, at right around 59 percent from the field and 35 percent from range.
So, how then, did the Heat get it done?
The Miami Heat Still, Ultimately, Win When They Play Their Brand Of Defense
The Miami Heat were able to do what they did early because of their elite defense and pressure. Treacherously swarming and attacking the Pels on that side of the ball, that’s how they got up big and maintained.
With “maintained” being the operative word again, that style never allowed the Pelicans back in it. And again, though Atlanta would eventually sneak out with a win on Monday, the Hawks’ offensive approach did allow the Heat back in it.
And that’s the difference in how the Miami Heat get it done, at their peaks, against how most other teams do it.
Yes, they made some shots, the ball popped around on offense, and they moved with purpose on that side of the ball but that along with the defensive stuff is exactly what Heat Ball is and is all about. This is how they win, how they always have, and how they will look to continue to get it done this year.
And as always the case before now in most years for the Miami Heat—it can still work.