The Miami Heat are chugging along in their schedule, trying to stack as many wins as they can before it’s all wrapped up, securing their place in the postseason. And the way they are going about it bodes well for their hopes to do just that.
With the Miami Heat always being a team built on the back of their outstanding defense, when they lock in to play it, they can downright ruin an opposing team’s night with their ability to, flat-out, wreak havoc on that side of the ball.
But speaking of “locking in”, it appears that is just what this Miami Heat team has done as of late.
If you take every team’s last 10 games, prior to the games played on Friday or Saturday based on the date of the metrics charted above, the Miami Heat were the absolute best defensive team in the league.
The Miami Heat are absolute monsters defensively when they’re clicking. They always have been and will be at their peaks, a fact vividly illustrated lately.
And in those 10 games, the Miami Heat have gone 7-3, including two wins over the Pelicans that saw them hold them under 100 points for just the second and third times of the season.
Though they had other pretty decent wins in that stretch and though the Pelicans have cooled a bit as of late, that fact is just indicative of the type of defense this Miami Heat team can play when again—they really lock in.
It’s no secret or coincidence though, as this is what it’s always been about throughout this season so far. It’s always about that with the Miami Heat, to be frank, and always will be.
When they come out and play with the effort, intensity, and purpose required to classify their approach as Miami Heat Ball, they always give themselves a better-than-average shot at winning the game. It’s a testament that has been proven over and over again throughout their, relatively, short history.
Now while the offense needs work, as also indicated by the chart, that’s not where their bread is buttered or how they have relied on winning. Because if the defense consistently lives where it needs to, the rest will fall into place.
And with the dudes they roster and the coach they have pushing the buttons for them, you have all the faith that by the time it’s all said and done in the regular year, they’ll be that team with more consistency. And their aforementioned prior 10 games before Friday illustrates that very point.