How a long film session and zone defense pushed the Heat to its road win over the 76ers
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 108-104 win over the Philadelphia 76ers (20-9) on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center. The Heat (20-8) posted a 2-1 record on the three-game trip, which included wins over the Dallas Mavericks and 76ers ...
1. This Heat team is historically resilient.
The Heat avoided consecutive losses again, moving to 8-0 after a loss through the first 28 games of the season. It’s already the longest into a season Miami has gone without recording consecutive losses in franchise history.
The only other teams without consecutive losses this season are the 24-4 Milwaukee Bucks and the 24-4 Los Angeles Lakers.
Monday’s loss to the Grizzlies was arguably the Heat’s worst loss of the season, and Miami’s first to a team with a losing record. But the Heat responded by handing the 76ers its first home loss of the season, with Philadelphia entering as the league’s only remaining team with an undefeated home record at 14-0.
“Everybody was just really disappointed, frustrated, if not angry yesterday with our performance in Memphis,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “All you can do is get to work. So we had a long film session going through the painful autopsy of our lack of winning plays that we made in the Memphis game. I thought we made a lot more of them tonight.”
Miami is one of only two road teams to defeat Milwaukee and was the first road team to defeat the Toronto Raptors this season, and is now the only road team to beat Philadelphia.
That’s an impressive resume for the Heat, which holds a 9-7 road record.
The Heat also displayed in-game resiliency Wednesday. Trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, Miami closed the second quarter on a 27-7 run to enter halftime with an eight-point lead.
The 76ers never led in the second half, with the Heat managing to hold onto its lead the rest of the way. Philadelphia made Miami work until the end, though, pulling within two points with 25.7 seconds to play before Heat big man Bam Adebayo made two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining to clinch the win.
It marked the Heat’s first regular-season win in Philadelphia since the 2015-16 season.
“I think we came out locked and loaded, man,” Heat wing Jimmy Butler said. “We were locked in. It feels good to get this one on the road. But we did what we said we were going to do yesterday in the meeting. We talked about it this morning. I think we came out and executed our game plan extremely well.”
2. The zone defense really worked against the 76ers offense.
The Heat turned to its 2-3 look for most of the game, limiting the 76ers to 42.2 percent shooting from the field and 12 of 39 shooting on threes. Philadelphia didn’t have an answer for it, especially in the second quarter when shooting 30.4 percent from the field and 3 of 13 on threes in the period.
Part of the Heat’s success was due to the 76ers just missing open shots from three-point range.
“Sometimes you learn about your team and what may or may not work,” Spoelstra said. “We had some groups out there that seemed to take a liking to the zone. There’s an activity level, and obviously Derrick [Jones Jr.] really helps with that.”
Philadelphia All-Star center Joel Embiid finished with a team-high 22 points and 19 rebounds.
76ers coach Brett Brown said: “Our league isn’t much of a zone league and the 49 possessions that we have played zone this year, they say that we are the fifth-best offense, but it didn’t feel like it tonight. I think that it crept into our spirit and our mood and ‘yes’ is the short answer to the fact that I think it slowed us down. We weren’t proactive.”
This is nothing new for the Heat, which used a zone defense more than any other team in the league this season. Miami also used it for most of the second half in Monday’s loss in Memphis, and it worked then too with the Grizzlies shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 2 of 20 on threes over the final two quarters.
What went into the decision to use it in Philadelphia?
One, the Heat is shorthanded and used an eight-man rotation with Goran Dragic (strained right groin) and Justise Winslow (strained lower back) unavailable, and the zone helps conserve energy on the defensive end.
Second, it helped to keep the shorthanded Heat out of foul trouble.
“At this point of this road trip, it was by any means necessary,” Spoelstra said. “We’re playing eight guys and we probably would have gotten in a lot of foul trouble if we just stay with our man. But we still trust it. We’ll have to do both, obviously. But there was a lot of big time plays. Regardless of what the schematics are, you still have to make some plays. They’re not just going to give it to you.”
3. The Heat’s young guys responded to a rough film session with strong nights in Philadelphia.
Spoelstra revealed following Wednesday’s win that Tuesday’s film session was especially rough for the Heat’s young players, rookie guards Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn, and second-year forward Duncan Robinson.
All three responded with quality performances against the 76ers.
“They took a beating yesterday in the film session, and they took it on the chin with an approach to get better and they produced for this basketball team in that locker room,” Spoelstra said. “And they got recognized for that by the veterans. It was a really cool thing.”
Herro, 19, finished with nine points, and tied a career-high with both eight rebounds and seven assists.
Nunn finished with a team-high 26 points, to go with four rebounds and five assists.
Robinson contributed 15 points, five rebounds and one assist. He also played the entire second half.
“That they can handle it and know that it’s never personal,” Butler said of what he learned about the Heat’s young players following the film session. “We only want you to get better because we need these guys now and in the long term. They’re key to what we’re trying to do. Man, they played their butts off tonight. I’m so happy for them and so proud of them.”
With Herro and Nunn leading the way, the Heat’s rookies have combined to average a league-high 33.2 points per game this season.
“For us young guys, I don’t think it was really tough,” Herro said of Tuesday’s film session. “It was just something that we took seriously and just learned and listened to the coaches and what they had to say about some of the shots. The mid-range shots, extra dribbles, looking for other guys and I think it showed tonight. I had seven assists and K-Nunn had five. Just a learning experience for us. We’re rookies, so just learn.”
The 22-year-old Jones was solid again, too, with 13 points and six rebounds in 32 minutes while playing through a migraine. He also played a big part in the Heat’s success with its zone defense.
4. Adebayo continued to open eyes Wednesday, as Butler allowed others to step up around him.
The 22-year-old Adebayo continued his All-Star caliber season, with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks against the 76ers. He also played the entire fourth quarter, finishing the period with six points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
“You can see how the growth of his game and being assertive and offensive minded helps our offense,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “That’s not just about shooting 16-foot jump shots. That’s probably what everybody thinks. But it’s about being aggressive. The last time we played them, they totally flattened us out offensively. His touch shots and baskets in the paint were much different than where he was even five weeks ago. And that will continue to get better.”
Adebayo is averaging 15.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks this season. The only other NBA players averaging at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block this season: reigning MVP and Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
As for Butler, he finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals Wednesday. He played just 5:30 in the fourth quarter, as Adebayo, Nunn and Robinson played the entire final period.
Butler was asked after the game what he would say to people who describe the Heat as a team with one star. Butler responded: “That this is a team of one star? Who’s that star, Bam? I’ll take Bam as our star any day.”
Just like in Butler’s first game back in Philadelphia after he left the 76ers to join the Heat in free agency this past summer, he was met with loud boos every time he touched the ball Wednesday. Those boos from the Philadelphia crowd later became aimed at the 76ers, with the Heat leading by as many as 16 points.
Butler’s second game back at Wells Fargo Center went a lot better than the first one. The Heat suffered a 27-point loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia in the teams’ first meeting of the season on Nov. 23.
The Heat and 76ers face off again on Dec. 28 in Miami.
5. The upcoming schedule is exactly what the shorthanded Heat needs right now.
Playing with pretty much an eight-man rotation (the ninth man, Chris Silva, has played a few minutes here and there) for the last two weeks because of injuries to Dragic and Winslow, it has meant big minutes for some players. Over the past seven games, Butler has averaged 39.3 minutes, Adebayo has averaged 38.7 minutes, Nunn has averaged 36.7 minutes, Robinson has averaged 34.4 minutes and Herro has averaged 31.6 minutes.
But the upcoming schedule gives the Heat time to rest and recover, and maybe even get a player or two back from injury. Following Wednesday’s win, the Heat plays just two games during an eight-day span — Friday against the Knicks and Monday against the Jazz.
The target date for Dragic’s return is Friday’s matchup against the Knicks, with two days off after the contest before Monday’s game against the Jazz.
In addition, forward James Johnson is expected to rejoin the Heat for Friday’s home game against the Knicks after missing the three-game trip due to personal reasons. But whether Johnson plays is another question, with Johnson logging just 10 minutes of playing time over the past 19 games.
Guard Dion Waiters is not eligible to return from his third team-issued suspension of the season until the Heat’s Dec. 27 home game against the Pacers. Waiters was suspended “for his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination.” He has yet to play in the regular season.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 12:43 AM.
