Why Heat’s defensive performance vs. Pelicans is important, and the role Avery Bradley played
When the Miami Heat signed Avery Bradley in free agency this offseason, the hope was that the veteran guard would help it become a better defensive team.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bradley pointed to the Heat’s defense when he was asked about the importance of Friday’s Christmas Day home win over the New Orleans Pelicans — Miami’s first victory of the season. The Heat limited the Pelicans to 39.7 percent shooting for the game, and 19 points on 6-of-20 (30 percent) shooting in the fourth quarter.
“I think it’s really encouraging, the way we were able to get stops throughout the game,” Bradley said, with the Heat idle until Tuesday’s home matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. “That’s the kind of team we want to be. We have a lot of guys that fill it up at any given time. And we do a great job of sharing the ball. So I feel like for us, if we come into the game with a defensive mentality, we can be a really good team this year.”
It didn’t take long for Bradley, who was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team in 2016 and All-Defensive second team in 2013, to begin helping the Heat on the defensive end.
While Bradley did not play in Wednesday’s season-opening loss in Orlando, he played 28 minutes off the Heat’s bench in Friday’s victory. Miami posted an elite defensive rating, allowing 86.7 points per 100 possessions, with Bradley on the court against the Pelicans.
Along with Bradley, the Heat has two other All-Defensive caliber players on its roster in the All-Star duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Adebayo made the NBA’s All-Defensive second team last season.
“If we play defense like we did tonight, I feel like it’s going to be hard for teams to beat us,” Bradley said. “We have to just continue to have that mentality. The way the Heat played basketball last year is how we’re going to eventually start playing this year, moving the ball and giving everyone opportunity. And with the shooters we have, we’re going to be in every single game. But defense has to dictate the game.”
The Heat finished last season with the seventh-best offensive rating in the NBA, but it was statistically mediocre on defense (12th-best defensive rating). Miami finished with a top-10 defense in four consecutive seasons before the streak was snapped last season.
“We take pride in that being our identity,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said of the team’s defense. “Obviously people see the three-point shots going in in the first half, but we really believe we can win games in an ugly fashion, as well, when shots aren’t going. And truth be told, you have to, in this league, if you want to be successful, just because shots aren’t going to go every night.”
STAN VAN GUNDY ON HEAT
Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy believes a lesson can be learned from the Heat’s way of doing things.
“The big thing people should learn from what has gone on with the Heat is that they have stayed the course,” said Van Gundy, who was the Heat’s head coach from 2003 to 2005. “They have been consistent and stuck to their principles. It’s not like they haven’t had down times since Pat [Riley] has been here. They haven’t had a lot of them. He has had great success. But, you know, they had down times. They had a couple of really, really tough years before Dwyane [Wade] came. Those were difficult years. And then, what people forget, they missed the playoffs three of the five years before they went to the Finals this past year. So it’s not like they haven’t had some down times.
“I think a lot of teams, a lot of organizations overreact to those times, and panic, and make changes and everything else. They’ve stayed the course. And, so, Pat has been here 25 years. Erik [Spoelstra] has been here 25 years. Andy Elisburg has been here 25 years. They’ve stayed the course. They know what they’re doing. They believe in what they’re doing, and momentary setbacks have not deterred them.”
