The Miami Heat have the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA. Despite their struggles on the offensive end of the floor, the Heat remain elite defensively, and almost no one is talking about it or could have predicted it.
Looking up and down the Heat's roster, it's almost impossible to believe that they would have an elite defense. Nevertheless, it's their consistent DNA and franchise philosophy that has helped this team defy the odds this season.
Because, individually, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kel'el Ware have all shown their struggles on the defensive end of the floor. Bam Adebayo is a great defender, but he can't consistently cover up all of the team's inefficiencies. In fact, even Andrew Wiggins has slipped in that department.
Davion Mitchell is one of the best point of attack defenders in the league, but he's also undersized in the modern game.
The Heat have defied odds with their elite defense
Theoretically, the Heat shouldn't be this good on that end of the floor.
But this just goes to show just how good Spo is at getting his players to buy into team defense, and how schematically he finds ways to make it work. Whether it's via situational zone play or his positionless schemes, the Heat have been surprisingly impressive on that end of the floor on most nights.
Their play defensively is even more impressive when you factor in the fact that they play at the fastest PACE in the NBA. Not only are they better than most on defense, but they're also playing the most possessions in the league every night.
This is what the Heat are. This is what they've been. If there's one thing that this franchise has been able to hang its hat on, despite some of its struggles of late, it's that they're going to be respectable on the defensive end of the floor.
They may not be an elite team defensively every year, but this will be the sixth-straight season that they've had a top 10 defense.
The Heat's elite defense has been a saving grace
While the Heat have continued to struggle to find their footing offensively, it's their defense that has helped keep them respectable in the Eastern Conference.
After Tuesday night's win over the Brooklyn Nets, the Heat are just a half-game back of the sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. And with just 20 games left in the regular season, there's reason to believe that Miami's best basketball could still be in front of them.
They haven't been completely healthy all season long and have shown little consistency on the offensive end of the floor. If those two variables can even shift slightly over the final stretch, the Heat could emerge as an intriguing threat in the East.
But none of that could've been possible without their elite defense. It's the most underrated part of this team, and the only reason why the Heat will even have a remote chance to make some noise in the Eastern Conference.