After the Miami Heat secured their first win of the season on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks, you can't help but wonder what the offense will look like when they return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Will the Heat slowly try to reestablish their pace-and-space offensive philosophies, or will they continue to lean back into some past tendencies (which included the return of the pick-and-roll) that they've worked so hard to filter out over the last year and a half?
It's tough to predict, but with the results that the Heat got against the Hawks, how could they dare turn away from it now?
Erik Spoelstra's small adjustments paid off in a big way
Of note, the Heat used significantly more pick-and-roll sets than they have all season long, and more than at any point last year. They also utilized Giannis Antetokounmpo in the "dunker spot" intentionally for what felt like the first time all season.
Miami used the pick-and-roll game to get Bam to his sweet spots within the 3-point line, and Giannis absolutely dominated the boards. Together, Bam and Giannis finished with a combined 48 points, 27 rebounds, and six assists on 56 percent shooting from the field. It also led to a double-digit win.
When the Heat originally acquired Giannis, this was the blueprint many fans had in mind. That the duo of Bam and Giannis would dominate the paint and, specifically, that the Heat would quickly emerge as one of the better pick-and-roll teams in the league.
But in order to get there, you have to run them. The question is, has Spoelstra come to that realization now (after just one game)?
Are these new adjustments here to stay?
Against the Hawks, the Heat used 57 pick-and-roll sets (per Cooper Moorhead). It was a season high, with the next highest of the year being 35. Last season, the season-high number of pick-and-roll sets used in a game was 47.
There was certainly an intentional adjustment made by Spoelstra. And with the way this season was trending through the first four games, this is one of those offensive tweaks that could end up saving year one of the Giannis experiment.
But again, time will tell whether these changes are here to stay or not. Even though it happened to work against the Hawks, there's no guarantee this is a sign of things to come rather than just a blip on the radar.
Ultiamtely, it's up to Spoelstra to decide that.
So, heading into an important upcoming stretch for the Heat, there are a few questions that need to be answered.
For one, will Spoelstra decide to lean into this newfound offensive style, or will he only tap into it in moments? Two, if Spoelstra does lean into it more, will it be as effective as it was against the Hawks? Three, can the surrounding pieces around Giannis and Bam be as consistent as they need to be for the pick-and-roll to work as it did against the Hawks?
Soon enough, we'll have the answers to each of these questions. But at least for now, it does seem as if Spoelstra's offensive reinvention on the fly may have helped save the Heat's start with Giannis.
Add us as a preferred source on Google