Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said that the starting 5 fans saw in game 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies is the one they can begin getting used to. At least, he said as much in so few words.
Spo admitted that ahead of the season-opener, he was "leaning" toward the bigger starting 5 lineup of Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, and Kel'el Ware. However, because of two minor injuries to Ware, which had raised doubts about his potential availability, he decided to pivot last minute.
In the end, Spo elected to start Nikola Jovic over Ware in game 1, but then shifted back to his "preferred" starting 5 in game 2 after it was clear that Ware was fine.
Moving forward, it's safe to say that Spo, especially after the team's historic success against the Memphis Grizzlies, may have found his starting 5 for the foreseeable future.
The Heat's hot start to the season
Especially with how impressive the Heat looked against the Grizzlies, it's difficult to push back against this decision from Spo. Interestingly enough, it's not a starting 5 that got many minutes with each other in the preseason, and didn't play any together in the season-opener.
Of course, that didn't seem to matter much as the Heat raced past the Grizzlies in the second game of the season. At the heart of it all is the Heat's impressive new-look offense.
Through two games, the Heat's adjustments to their offense have passed the eye test and are drawing rave reviews from statistical standards. They're third in points per game and a top 10 unit in offensive rating. Through these first two games, the Heat are playing at the fastest PACE in the NBA as well.
Interestingly enough, it's not just the offense that deserves praise through these first two games of the season. The Heat's defense has also gotten off to a good start. In what would be described as an extremely small sample size, the Heat have the fourth-ranked defensive rating in the league.
If these two trends continue, the Heat are going to prove a lot of people wrong. And if Spo has indeed found his starting 5 (at least until Tyler Herro is back from injury), it's going to make every other rotation-centric decision that much simpler for the Heat.
The verdict is still out on the Heat, but it's difficult to argue with the early results. And, at least at this point, the starting 5 looks solid and, perhaps most importantly, set.