Takeaways from Duncan Robinson’s big night. Heat continues to roll, moves to 10-3
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 124-100 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-10) on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...
1. What a difference a year makes for the Heat’s offense.
The Heat finished last season below average in almost every offensive category — 26th in points (105.7), 22nd in shooting percentage (45), 21st in three-point shooting percentage (34.9), 30th in free-throw percentage (69.5), 23rd in turnovers (14.7) and 26th in offensive rating (106.7 points per 100 possessions).
A year later, the Heat is among the best in a few offensive categories. Miami is ranked first in shooting percentage (48.2), second in three-point shooting percentage (39.6) and sixth in assists (26.2). The Heat is also ranked 12th in offensive rating (108.8 points per 100 possessions).
That Heat’s offense continued to play an efficient style against the Cavaliers, finishing with 124 points on 52.6 percent shooting from the field and 51.4 percent (19 of 37) shooting on threes. Miami also recorded 25 assists, and a season-high seven players finished with double-digit points.
The Heat’s ball movement has led to six different leading scorers through the first 13 games.
“You have to have the type of team that will embrace that,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Usually it starts with your best players, and that’s what’s happening with us. Jimmy [Butler] wants this. He understands that we need guys to grow and to be aggressive and to be better as the season goes on. We need more weapons out there. So he’s allowing and facilitating for this to happen and other guys are really starting to gain confidence.”
On the way to another strong performance, the Heat tied a franchise record for the most points scored in a first half with 75. The Heat also scored 75 first-half points against the Clippers on Nov. 19, 1997.
The Heat’s 10-3 start is tied for the best 13-game start to a season in franchise history. The last time the Heat began a season at 10-3 was in 2013-14, the final year of the Big 3 era.
2. Duncan Robinson’s elite outside shooting was a big reason for the Heat’s offensive success Wednesday.
Robinson’s shooting against the Cavaliers was historic, as he finished with 29 points with the help of 9-of-15 shooting on threes. It marked a new career-high in points and threes made, as Robinson finished one short of tying the franchise record of 10 made threes in a game set by Mario Chalmers and Brian Shaw.
“Who’s cheering more? The fans out here or Mario Chalmers,” Spoelstra joked about Robinson finishing one three-pointer away from the record.
The second quarter was especially impressive, as Robinson scored 21 on 7-of-9 shooting on threes. He finished the first half with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
“That first half was just spectacular shooting,” Spoelstra said. “In a totally different context, I felt like I was looking at Mike Miller. Just in that kind of zone and that kind of size and range with his shooting, and you couldn’t be more happy for a guy like Duncan because he puts in so much time. I see it day after day. ... This has been steady improvement over the course of now 14-15 months. It certainly hasn’t been perfect.”
The highlight of that second quarter was a 36-footer Robinson made with confidence for his seventh three of the period and eighth of the half.
“Probably after like two or three in a row, the ball feels really good coming off your hands,” Robinson said of when he knew he was going to have a big night. “You just feel like you’re in a good rhythm. Just kind of feels effortless. I would like to think that’s most nights, but I know I’m capable of having moments like that at any time.”
It marked new franchise records for most threes made by one player in any quarter or half. Robinson surpassed the previous marks of six made threes in a quarter (done by Wayne Ellington twice and Brian Shaw) and six made threes in a half (done by numerous Heat players, most recently by Ellington).
Robinson’s nine threes is tied with Houston’s James Harden and Charlotte’s Devonte’ Graham for the most threes made in a game this season.
When discussing Robinson’s 29-point performance, Spoelstra recalled a preseason conversation he had with him. Robinson shot just 28.2 percent on threes in the preseason.
“I said, ‘Your head coach is not even looking at that. It’s only that you broke open two quarters with three, four quick threes in a row. That’s what I’m noticing. Who cares about the other stuff?’” Spoelstra said of his conversation with Robinson. “Shooters go through ups and downs. But once you get to that ignitable quality, we can use that. That’s what we had with Wayne, obviously Ray [Allen] had that, Mike [Miller] had that. Once you hit a couple, then it’s like an avalanche. That’s a big time weapon.”
Robinson said of that preseason talk with Spoelstra: “I remember after preseason sitting down in his office and him just saying that he wasn’t even looking at percentages. Obviously, you try not to look as a player, but naturally you notice that stuff. ... To hear the confidence he has in me has meant so much to me.”
Robinson’s three-point shooting is the skill that earned him a spot on the Heat’s roster as an undrafted prospect out of Michigan. He spent most of last season with the G League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce as one of Miami’s two-way contract players.
Robinson, 25, has made 44 percent of his threes this season. He has started in each of the Heat’s past six games with Justise Winslow sidelined by a concussion, and it could be difficult to take Robinson out of the starting lineup with the way he has played.
To add to Robinson’s career-best performance, it came against his college coach. Cavaliers coach John Beilein coached Robinson at Michigan from 2015 to 2018.
“I’ve heard many times about how Michigan helped develop him,” Beilein said, “but that young man has developed the last two years with the Miami culture. He has developed his game to a completely different level. His movement without the ball, all the things he does. That was like watching your family go and destroy you from three. Part of you hates it, but part of you is like he’s part of our blood.”
3. But the turnovers continue to be an issue for an otherwise efficient Heat offense.
The Heat entered Wednesday averaging a league-high 18.8 turnovers per game this season. That trend continued against the Cavaliers, with Miami committing 24 turnovers in the win.
“If we can just figure this out where we’re not throwing it into the stands or throwing it to the other team, I think this team will be able to score some points,” Spoelstra said. “That’s what’s a little bit perplexing and a little bit frustrating from my vantage point.”
A breakdown of the turnovers Wednesday (in order): Kendrick Nunn bad pass, Nunn bad pass, Nunn bad pass, Jimmy Butler traveling, Meyers Leonard bad pass, Nunn bad pass, Chris Silva loose ball foul, Tyler Herro lost ball, Herro bad pass, Goran Dragic bad pass, Silva offensive foul, Butler bad pass, Butler bad pass, Leonard lost ball, Nunn bad pass, Bam Adebayo offensive foul, Adebayo bad pass, Adebayo offensive foul, Herro bad pass, Herro bad pass, Kelly Olynyk bad pass, Herro lost ball, Silva lost ball and shot clock violation.
It has been the one glaring issue for an otherwise improved Heat offense. Miami has committed 20 or more turnovers in six of its first 13 games this season. The Heat had 20 or more turnovers in six of 82 games last season.
The Cavaliers weren’t much better, though. Cleveland, which entered averaging 14.9 turnovers, committed 19 turnovers Wednesday.
4. The crazy thing about the Heat’s offensive performance is that it not only came on a night full of turnovers. But it also came on an off shooting night for leading man Jimmy Butler.
Butler finished with 21 points on 3 of 16 shooting, becoming the first Heat player in franchise history to score at least 21 on as few as three made shots. Most of his points came from the foul line, where he was 13 of 13.
How did the Heat still make 52.6 percent of its shots? Butler’s teammates combined to shoot 38 of 62 (61.3 percent) against the Cavaliers.
Along with Robinson, Herro contributed 22 points of his own on 4-of-7 shooting on threes.
While Butler did miss a lot of shots, he did do other things to help the Heat. Along with all the free throws, he also finished with five rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks. The Heat outscored the Cavaliers by a team-best 28 points with Butler on the court.
For the season, Butler owns a team-best plus-minus of plus-102.
There will be plenty of nights when the Heat needs Butler to score 20-plus points to win. Wednesday was definitely not one of those nights.
5. Another home game, another blowout win for the Heat.
After finishing with an underwhelming 19-22 home record last season, the Heat has started the season with a 6-0 record at AmericanAirlines Arena. The only remaining undefeated teams at home are the Heat, Celtics, 76ers and Raptors.
The Heat has simply been dominant at home. Miami’s six wins at AmericanAirlines Arena have come by an NBA-best average margin of 18.5 points.
Included in there is a 19-point home win over the Grizzlies, a 15-point home win over the Hawks, a 29-point home win over the Rockets, a nine-point home win over the Pistons, a 15-point home win over the Pelicans and Wednesday’s 24-point home win over the Cavaliers.
Also, the Cavaliers have now dropped 17 consecutive games at AmericanAirlines Arena. Cleveland’s losing streak in Miami dates back to 2010.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 10:11 PM.
