The Miami Heat may have won three of their last four games, but they still have the look (and feel) of a team that is trying to find their way. While their starting lineup doesn't deserve all the blame, it has consistently failed to set the tone for the majority of this season.
It's been hard enough for the Heat to win games when they're on equal footing with other teams, but it becomes that much more difficult to do so when they quickly fall into these early holes in almost every game.
For the most part, that falls on the ineffectiveness of the starting lineup. It's looked better of late, but at a certain point, Erik Spoelstra is going to need to take a hard look at potentially making a change. Giving the starting unit a spark could make all the difference for this team, especially considering how much they've struggled at the start of games.
The Heat's starting lineup woes can't be overlooked
The Heat's starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo has a net rating of -5.8 in 91 minutes played this season. They have a defensive rating of 126.6. If you were to extrapolate that and compare it to the rest of the league, it would qualify as the worst defense in the league.
Digging even deeper, in all five games that the Heat have lost this season, they've fallen into an early hole within minutes of the opening whistle. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they fell behind by eight points in the first few minutes. Against the Detroit Pistons by 15. At Charlotte, they fell behind by seven. Dallas jumped up by eight points against the Heat, and the Lakers raced out to an early 10-point lead.
It's no surprise that in games where the starting lineup didn't immediately give up an unnecessary big lead, the Heat ended up winning those games. That's why, perhaps more than anything, there's reason to believe that the Heat would be in a much better spot if they simply got out to better starts.
That should point to the need for a starting lineup change. Of course, the problem has been: what could Spoelstra possibly do? Does he bench Klay or Wiggins? Does he bring in Tim Hardaway Jr. or burn the Pelle Larsson option this early? Maybe there's another unorthodox move to be made, too?
It hasn't been clear, even if he wanted to make a move. Until now.
The Heat's starting lineup that could save the season
Recently, Spoelstra and the Heat may have stumbled upon the starting lineup that could help rescue this team from their slow start. It consists of swapping Larsson in (no-brainer), but for a player that not many expected. Larsson wouldn't be replacing Klay; he'd be swapping in for Wiggins.
Miami's lineup of Davion, Klay, Larsson, Giannis, and Bam has only played 23 minutes so far this season, but in that small sample size, they have a defensive rating of 70 and a net rating of 36. If Spoelstra wants to solve their defensive issues, this may be the lineup to accomplish that.
Sure, this lineup may only have a 106 offensive rating, but I'd imagine that Spoelstra would be willing to live with that swap. Especially with how bad the defense has looked to start the year. Right now, Spoelstra is scrambling to find the defense, and this lineup may give him the answer he's been looking for.
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