Thoughts and takeaways from Heat’s first-round sweep. And what it means for next round
That was quick.
The Miami Heat won Game 4 on Monday night to eliminate the Indiana Pacers in a 4-0 first-round sweep. It marked Miami’s first series sweep since the 2014 playoffs.
Next up for the Heat? Probably the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, which won Monday to take a 3-1 series lead over the Orlando Magic. Miami will take on the winner of the Milwaukee-Orlando series, which the Bucks can clinch Wednesday in Game 5.
That means the Heat could have to wait for as long as a week before beginning the second round.
Even if the Bucks eliminate the Magic on Wednesday, a Miami-Milwaukee series likely won’t begin until the weekend or Monday. Sunday is believed to be the most likely start date in this scenario.
Until then, the Heat wait.
Here are 10 playoff thoughts (with a bonus thought) from the Heat’s first-round sweep, and what it could mean moving forward:
▪ Jimmy Butler will benefit from the mini-break in between series. Butler entered Game 4 with shoulder pain, and the Heat’s All-Star wing was forced to miss most of the first half Monday because of a strained left shoulder.
Butler played the first six minutes of the game, but he left the court with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter and did not return until the start of the second half. He totaled six points on 2-of-3 shooting, two rebounds, one steal and one block in 17 second-half minutes that looked painful at times, as he lifted his left arm only when absolutely necessary.
“We had to take a look at it in the second quarter,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after Monday’s Game 4 win. “It wasn’t feeling great coming in, and then he got jarred again. He probably got jarred in that shoulder three or four times during the course of the game. That’s usually the way it works out. But in the second half, he gave us some really good, competitive minutes out there, just gutting through it.”
Butler finished Monday’s win with six points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in 23 minutes.
“My shoulder was hurting a little bit after last game,” Butler said. “It was hurting before the game. But as I was warming up, I was like, ‘Maybe it’ll loosen up,’ and maybe I’ll be able to play at 100 percent or whatever it was. It wasn’t the case. I went to the back. Did a little bit of work. And then we decided, you know what? We’re going to go out there and just lock in on defense. I think I did that.”
Spoelstra called Butler’s strained shoulder a “soft tissue” injury and said Monday an MRI is not needed at this point.
“He already was checked out by all of our trainers and everything,” Spoelstra continued. “What he needs more than anything is just rest and then he’ll start to work his way back into it.”
Butler is expected to be fine for the start of the second round and the level of concern surrounding the injury is low, according to a source.
“I’ll be OK, figure this thing out, do more and more treatment on it every day,” he said. “[Heat assistant athletic trainer] Armando Rivas is my guy. He always takes great care of me. And the whole Heat training staff. I’ll be fine. I’ll rest up and lock in on our next opponent.”
Butler averaged 19.8 points on 40.8 percent shooting, 5.3 rebounds, four assists and 2.5 steals in 33.7 minutes in his first playoff series with the Heat. He also got to the foul line for 10.5 free throws per game, and Miami outscored Indiana by 29 points when Butler was on the court.
▪ The Heat’s other players will also benefit from a few days off.
“It’s critical for us to take care of our bodies right now,” said forward Jae Crowder, who played on a sprained left ankle for most of the series.. “My ankle is flaring up so big. My ankle is the size of a golf ball right now. So I’m going to try to take time and try to get my body where it needs to be for another series. I’m sure Jimmy will do the same thing. It’s key for us.
“I felt like this game was good for us to get a day or two rest before the next series. I honestly feel like guys are feeling it with their bodies and stuff. [Goran Dragic], as well. G came in just after the game, he’s just feeling it. But it’s a gauntlet right now. We’re in the thick of the fight.”
▪ It looks like the Heat’s new starting lineup of Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Crowder and Bam Adebayo is here to stay.
The results have been very positive when this group has been on the floor. This five-man combination posted a plus/minus of plus-14 in 51 minutes in the first round, and it’s a plus-47 in 102 minutes this season.
The Dragic-Robinson-Butler-Crowder-Adebayo look was also the most used Heat lineup in the first round. Offense has been a big reason for this group’s success, as the Heat made 19 of 36 threes when this lineup was on the court during its playoff series against the Pacers.
▪ Dragic played heavy minutes in the first round, as Spoelstra admitted it was hard to take him out because he played so well. The 34-year-old guard averaged 22.8 points while shooting 48 percent from the field and 41.4 percent on threes, four rebounds, five assists and 1.3 steals in 34.2 minutes in the series.
The Heat outscored the Pacers by 42 points with Dragic on the court. Only Adebayo posted a better plus/minus in the series.
Other impressive aspects of Dragic’s start to the playoffs: He played in all 48 fourth-quarter minutes in the series and averaged 9.5 points in the final period. Only Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Denver’s Jamal Murray have averaged more fourth-quarter points than Dragic to begin the playoffs.
▪ How important is Adebayo? Miami was clearly the better team when the third-year big man was on the court, and Indiana was actually the better team when he was on the bench.
The Heat outscored the Pacers by 55 points when Adebayo was playing, while Indiana outscored Miami by 13 points when he was not playing.
Adebayo averaged 15 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, one steal and 1.3 blocks in the first round.
▪ Heat rookie Tyler Herro’s first NBA playoff series went well. The 20-year-old averaged 16.5 points while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent on threes, four rebounds and three assists in 32.4 minutes in the first round.
Not only was Herro on the court for important late-game minutes, but his polished offensive game was on full display. In the four-game sweep, he shot 8 of 16 from inside the paint, 6 of 10 on mid-range looks and 8 of 22 from three-point range.
▪ While the Heat’s depth is a big strength, Spoelstra has tightened the rotation. He used a nine-man rotation for most of the first round, and only seven players averaged more than 15 minutes per game in the series — Adebayo, Butler, Crowder, Dragic, Herro, Andre Iguodala and Robinson.
▪ Spoelstra’s fourth-quarter rotation was even tighter. Dragic and Iguodala played in all 48 fourth-quarter minutes, Herro played in 46 of the 48 fourth-quarter minutes, and Adebayo and Butler also played in a big chunk of the late-game minutes.
In fact, Spoelstra turned to the Dragic-Herro-Butler-Iguodala-Adebayo lineup to play more than half of the fourth-quarter minutes in the series. This combination was a plus-10 in 27 fourth-quarter minutes against the Pacers. Will this be the closing lineup the Heat turns to in the next round, too?
▪ Opponents will try to take advantage of perceived match-up advantages against the Heat’s switching defense. The Pacers targeted Herro and Robinson in the first round.
Miami defended 16 isolations per game while allowing 1.22 points per possession in those situations, according to NBA Advanced Stats. In the regular season, those numbers would rank first and 30th in the league, respectively.
When Herro or Robinson was the primary defender, Indiana scored 1.65 points per possession on isolation situations. The Pacers scored just 0.92 points per possession when another Heat player was the defender.
Herro and Robinson combined to defend 26 isolation possessions in the first round, and Indiana scored 43 points on efficient 14-of-19 shooting on those possessions.
The key for Herro and Robinson is making the opponent pay on the other end, and they did that against Indiana. They combined to shoot 20 of 49 (40.8 percent) on threes in the series
▪ Despite struggling to contain Indiana’s isolation attack at times, the Heat’s defense has been solid to start the playoffs. Miami allowed 103.9 points per 100 possessions in the first round, which is the fourth-best defensive rating in the postseason.
It’s important to note the Pacers have been an inefficient offensive team for most of the season, so it wasn’t the toughest test for the Heat. But it’s a big improvement from the regular season, when Miami allowed 109.3 points per 100 possessions to finish with the NBA’s 12th-best defensive rating.
Miami was especially good when the Adebayo-Butler-Iguodala trio was on the court, allowing 95.4 points per 100 possessions in the 43 minutes they played together in the series.
Bonus: Three-point shooting remains one of the Heat’s biggest strengths. After finishing the regular season with the league’s second-best team three-point percentage (37.9), Miami shot 39.1 percent from deep in the first round.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 12:59 PM.
