Zone defense has become a weapon for Heat in regular season, but can it work in playoffs?
At first, Jimmy Butler couldn’t remember the last time he played this much zone defense.
“No,” Butler said when asked if has ever played as much zone as he has with the Heat this season. “Oh yeah, we did in junior college. In junior college, we were zoning the [heck] out of people.”
Zone defense is used a lot on the college level, but it isn’t used much in the NBA. The Heat uses it more than most NBA teams, though.
In fact, the Heat entered Friday’s game against the Magic at Amway Center with the second-most zone defensive possessions in the league this season, according to Synergy Sports. Only the Wizards have used its zone defense more than the Heat.
Miami has been effective in its 2-3 zone look, too. The Heat sat in its zone for most of Thursday’s home win over the Raptors, limiting Toronto to season lows in points (76) and team shooting percentage (31.5 percent).
The Heat used zone on 56 possessions against the Raptors, according to Second Spectrum tracking data. It’s the most defensive possessions any team has used zone in a game this season.
“Just effort. I feel like that’s all that defense is,” Butler said of why the Heat’s zone defense has been successful. “That’s all that we base a lot of things off of here, just how hard you play. If we’re in zone, if we’re in man, you just got to fly around. We have guys that are extremely long, we have guys that are playing the passing lanes, guys that are being aggressive on defense. Man or zone, defense takes a lot of effort.”
The Raptors couldn’t make threes to force the Heat out of its zone defense, with Toronto shooting 6 of 42 (14.3 percent) from three-point range Thursday. It went down as the Raptors’ worst three-point shooting percentage for any game with at least 30 attempts in franchise history.
“It definitely changed the rhythm of the game,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said of the Heat’s zone. “I think it put us on our heels a little bit, but we had our times where we executed and we got layups and wide open shots. We also had our times where we were stagnant. It worked, I guess, if you just read the stat sheet. But out there on the floor, I felt like we were in pretty good shape.”
Toronto coach Nick Nurse said the “zone changes your normal rhythm and causes your players to work harder to get those kind of looks. The best remedy of beating the zone is to just make some shots.”
The zone started to become a weapon for the Heat last season, when it used zone defense more than any other team in the NBA. According to Synergy Sports, Miami used zone for 13.9 percent of its defensive possessions last season, compared to 7.9 percent of its defensive possessions this season.
So far, the Heat’s zone has been more effective this season. Miami is allowing 0.831 points per possession when using zone, compared to 0.923 points per possession last season.
“It’s one of those things that it’s a feel thing,” big man Bam Adebayo said. “You start to learn chemistry with your teammates. I think the big thing about the zone is we talk more. I feel like that’s the big deal about the zone. We’re really talking and communicating. You’re talking yourself into spots.”
The zone has certainly helped the Heat in the regular season, but could it actually work in the playoffs when games slow down and game planning is taken to another level? If anything, the Heat hopes it’s just something else opponents have to prepare for and something else the Heat can use to keep opponents off balance.
“I mean, we’re comfortable in it. We’re having success,” Butler said. “But it’s just another thing that we can throw at different teams at any certain time. We’re good at it, to tell you the truth. And we’re getting better at it. But I think our man-to-man is really going to be what we’re going to have to bank on.”
▪ Heat forward Justise Winslow (lower back bone bruise) did not travel with the Heat to Orlando for Friday’s game against the Magic. It’s the 14th consecutive game Winslow has missed with his back injury.
Rookie forward KZ Okpala and two-way contract guard Daryl Macon also were ruled out for Friday’s contest because both are currently playing with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
