Heat off to its best 10-game start since 2013. And Butler, Dragic continue to shine
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 117-108 win over the Detroit Pistons (4-8) on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...
1. This is the Heat’s best 10-game start to a season since the Big 3 era.
Aside from the off-court issues with Dion Waiters, there has been a lot of positive vibes around the Heat to start the season. Miami’s 7-3 record is its best 10-game start since it began the 2013-14 season with the same record.
The Heat is also 4-0 at home this season.
One of the most impressive aspects of the Heat’s start has been its ability to overcome injuries and other issues. Jimmy Butler missed the first three games while on paternity leave, James Johnson has only played in four games as he has worked to get back in the rotation after not meeting the team’s conditioning standards at the start of training camp, Derrick Jones Jr. has missed six games with various injuries, and Justise Winslow has already missed five of the first 10 games due to injuries.
The injuries and off-court issues have led to big minutes for undrafted players like Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson. Nunn and Robinson entered Tuesday averaging 28.4 minutes and 21.9 minutes per game, respectively.
Both of the Heat’s two-way contract players, guard Daryl Macon and forward Chris Silva, even got minutes against the Pistons. Macon made his only shot of the game — a three-pointer — to finish with three points in seven minutes after being recalled from the G League as added depth for Tuesday’s game, and Silva finished with eight points, nine rebounds, two assists and a block in 15 minutes.
2. Despite being shorthanded, the Heat did what it was supposed to do Tuesday.
Miami had just 10 available players against the Pistons, with Tyler Herro (left ankle sprain), Johnson (sick), Winslow (concussion), Jones (left hip strain), KZ Okpala (left Achilles strain), and Waiters (suspension) all unavailable. But Detroit was also shorthanded with two of its best players, guard Derrick Rose (right hamstring strain/injury recovery) and forward Blake Griffin (left hamstring/posterior knee soreness/injury recovery), out.
Add in the fact the Pistons were playing on the second night of a back-to-back following Monday’s home loss to the Timberwolves, and the Heat clearly had an advantage entering the contest. In fact, the Pistons’ team plane didn’t arrive to its gate at Miami International Airport until 5:34 a.m. Tuesday morning because of a snow storm in Detroit.
Luke Kennard led Detroit with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
The Heat took care of business and avoided the upset, with the Pistons entering as nine-point underdogs. Miami opened the game on a 14-2 run and never trailed, leading by as many as 29 points on its way to the win.
Detroit’s zone defense gave the Heat some trouble, with the Pistons cutting the deficit all the way to seven with 40.1 seconds to play.
“Just find finding a way to win,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “I feel like we relaxed when we got up big and that’s when they started to come back, so fighting against adversity is a good thing for us and it’s a learning process. It’s early. It’s the first 10 games and we need that adversity. You need that type of adversity for the beginning of the year, so as the season goes on we’ll be ready for it.”
The Heat hung on for the win behind 11 fourth-quarter points from Butler. He finished the game with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting, three rebounds, 13 assists, two steals and zero turnovers.
“He just really controlled the entire game in the fourth quarter offensively for us,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “He choreographed basically every action. Either we got him in the middle against the zone or had him handle up top versus the man or zone going down the stretch. He just reads the game and plays the right way, even when there’s some stress and pressure and some tough possessions and the momentum shifting.
“It’s a great luxury that we certainly don’t take for granted. To be able to put the ball in somebody’s hands and you know you’re going to get something good in a possession.”
3. Goran Dragic continues to prove he’s a real contender for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
Add another strong game off the bench to Dragic’s resume for the Sixth Man of the Year honor. The 33-year-old guard finished with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting and six assists in 33 minutes on Tuesday.
It marked the third consecutive game that Dragic has logged more than 30 minutes.
“Once we get guys back, I’ll be able to control that,” Spoelstra said of Dragic’s playing time. “Think about if I started him, this would be 40, 40 and 40 [minutes]. This is the great luxury of being able to bring him off the bench. Even if I’m playing him big minutes, it’s 32. That’s quite manageable, and you can do that early on in the season. We’ll be able to manage that.”
Dragic is sixth in scoring (16.8 points per game) among bench players behind Charlotte’s Devonte’ Graham (17.9), Los Angeles’ Montrezl Harrell (18.2), Detroit’s Luke Kennard (19.7), Los Angeles’ Lou Williams (20.6) and Rose (20.8).
Dragic has finished with double-digit points in four of his past five games. The move to the bench has been beneficial to both Dragic and the Heat, with it working to keep him fresh and have a lot of his minutes come against backup guards.
Along with Dragic and Butler, the Heat got 18 points and a season-high 14 rebounds from Adebayo. Nunn ended the night with 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting and five assists.
4. The Heat’s ball movement continues to impress, as Miami finished with 33 or more assists for the third time over the first 10 games of the season. The Heat recorded 33 or more assists two times in 82 games last season.
On Tuesday, the Heat finished with 34 assists on 41 made baskets.
“We’ve built a locker room this year where we believe in each other, we trust each other to make the right play and, as you said, Jimmy is making the right play,” Adebayo said. “It’s not all about one guy on this team. Everybody had big nights out of nowhere, so just find the hot hand.”
Miami is averaging the fourth-most assists (25.9) in the NBA this season. The Heat averaged 24.3 assists last season.
5. Udonis Haslem made his first appearance of the season, and Spoelstra said there could be more coming.
The longtime Heat forward entered to a loud ovation with 49.3 seconds remaining in the third quarter and finished with two points and two rebounds in five minutes of action.
It marked Haslem’s first game of the season. He didn’t even get any playing time in the preseason.
“I may go to him more now, particularly since we’re dealing with a lot of moving parts right now in the front court,” Spoelstra said of Haslem. “I just trust him, I trust him on both sides of the floor. He gave us rock-solid minutes and he gives us that veteran presence when things start to step up.”
The 39-year-old Haslem is in his 17th NBA season. He seriously considered retirement this offseason, but he ultimately chose to return for another year. He has declined to definitively label this season as his final one.
Before Tuesday, Haslem had logged just 277 minutes of playing time in 40 regular-season games since the start of the 2016-17 season. But his leadership and experience makes him an important part of the roster, as he has served as a Heat captain in each of the past 12 seasons — the longest tenure in team history.
Haslem also currently holds the longest streak by any active player with only one team in the league.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 10:14 PM.
