Takeaways from another standout night for Heat’s defense, as Victor Oladipo’s debut looms
It was a good night for the Miami Heat.
The Heat (24-24) clinched a winning trip with a 92-87 victory over the Indiana Pacers (21-25) on Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and returns home to an All-Star talent waiting to make his debut. Miami won two straight to close the three-game trip at 2-1.
Newly acquired two-time All-Star guard Victor Oladipo is expected to make his Heat debut on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors at AmericanAirlines Arena.
But first, the Heat needed to rally from a 15-point third quarter deficit to earn the win in Indianapolis.
Miami closed the third period on a 22-9 run to cut the deficit to just two entering the fourth quarter.
The Heat then outscored the Pacers 27-20 in the final period to complete the comeback.
Duncan Robinson led the way for the Heat with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep, eight rebounds and four assists.
Miami’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo (16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) and Jimmy Butler (18 points, five rebounds and four assists) combined for 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
Heat guard Tyler Herro finished with 17 points off the bench.
But it was really Miami’s defense that was the star of the night. The Heat’s top-10 defense limited the Pacers to a season-low 87 points on 40 percent shooting from the field and 11-of-37 shooting on threes.
The Heat now returns home to take on the Warriors on Thursday to complete its fourth back-to-back set in the past three weeks. Miami’s next four games come at home.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Pacers:
Oladipo’s much-anticipated Heat debut on Thursday will come after very little time around his new teammates and coaches. But he has been working to make up for the time lost.
Oladipo, who was acquired by the Heat last week in a trade with the Houston Rockets, has remained in Miami and missed his second straight game on Wednesday because of a head cold.
During his time away from the team, Oladipo has taken part in a few discussions with coach Erik Spoelstra via Zoom. He has also been working out at AmericanAirlines Arena with assistant coach Caron Butler, who did not travel with the Heat on the trip because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
“We’ve had several Zoom sessions just to review and try to fast-track our system,” Spoelstra said when asked about Oladipo before Wednesday’s game against the Pacers. “But he’s a savvy high-IQ veteran player. He’s going to pick up things very quickly. He has been able to work out the last couple days with Caron at the arena. So they’ve been able to review some things, as well. I’ve talked to him and then we’ll just see him when we get to Miami.”
With Oladipo away from the team during its now completed three-game trip and Thursday’s game coming on the second night of a back-to-back, a pregame walkthrough will be Oladipo’s only on-court preparation time with Heat teammates before his debut.
“All of these circumstances are a little bit different than in a normal season and this is just another example of how you have to adapt,” Spoelstra said. “But we’re excited to have him.”
Oladipo, 28, last played March 21 in a Rockets loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I’m hyped. I’m excited,” Butler said of the opportunity to play alongside Oladipo. “Another piece that we acquired and he’s going to fit in right away and he’s going to help us win. He’s going to help us guard. Obviously, he’s going to put points on the board. I’m ready to get it rocking.”
Efficient offense was the pathway to success for the Heat last season. The pathway this season? Elite defense, so far.
After another strong defensive outing on Wednesday, Miami owns the NBA’s sixth-best defensive rating this season (allowing 109.1 points per 100 possessions) behind its scheme that limits opportunities around the basket and pushes opposing offenses away from the paint.
Because of that quality defense, Wednesday marked the fourth win the Heat has recorded this season despite scoring fewer than 100 points. Miami won one such game last season.
But things are different now.
The Heat won so many games behind its top-10 offense last season, but this season its a top-10 defense that has been the catalyst with the offense taking a step back.
“We’re starting to wrap our minds around our identity of our pathway to success,” Spoelstra said. “A lot of times that’s going to be defensive games. These are kind of throwback games, circa the 1990s. It shows that you can win in different ways even in today’s era. But our guys really dug down the last three quarters and defended.”
The Heat’s defense was especially good in the second half Wednesday, as the Pacers scored just 42 points on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-17 shooting on threes while committing nine turnovers during the final two quarters.
The Heat’s late-game defense has been solid for most of the season. Miami owns the NBA’s fourth-best second-half defensive rating (allowing 107.6 points per 100 possessions).
“In terms of winning ugly down the stretch, that’s kind of what we pride ourselves in,” Robinson said. “We don’t need to make a bunch of shots down the stretch to win. But instead we can put the clamps on and find a way.”
It was an unusual performance for the Heat’s offense, which did not get a made field goal from either Adebayo or Butler in the first half.
The Heat’s offense struggled to make shots early in the game. With 4:45 left in the second quarter, Miami had totaled just 30 points on 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) shooting from the field and 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) shooting on threes.
It didn’t help that Adebayo and Butler turned in a quiet first half. They combined for eight points — all from the foul line — on 0-of-9 shooting from the field in the first two quarters.
Adebayo and Butler overcame their slow starts, combining to score 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the second half.
“For some of us, myself and Bam included, we started the game off slow,” Butler said. “That’s part of it. But we always try to change the game, affect the game, put our print on the game in a different way. I feel like we did a great job of that. Damn sure Bam did. He rebounded the ball, passed the ball, guarded extremely well. But that’s who we are and we have to continue to be that.”
The Heat entered with the NBA’s sixth-worst offensive rating this season. Wednesday was another uneven performance, but it was enough because of another quality defensive display.
Don’t look now, but Robinson’s three-point percentage is approaching 40 percent.
Just two weeks ago, part of the conversation surrounding the Heat was focused on Robinson’s three-point regression. But he continued to trend in a positive direction on Wednesday, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep.
During the past five games, Robinson has shot 22 of 40 (55 percent) from three-point range.
“Any time you can make shots, obviously it’s nice,” Robinson said. “I try not to get too high or too low. I just got to continue to take the right shots. I feel like I was taking them before this little stretch where they’re going in. So you can’t get too caught up in makes and misses, but instead just being aggressive.”
Robinson, 26, is now shooting 39.9 percent from deep on 8.5 attempts per game this season
That’s a small step back, considering Robinson shot 44.6 percent on threes last season. But he has still been one of the NBA’s top shooters this season, as he has made the fourth-most made threes in the league (163) while shooting around 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The Heat again had just 11 available players, and newcomer Nemanja Bjelica again played limited minutes.
For the second straight game, Miami was without four players: Oladipo (head cold), Kendrick Nunn (sprained right ankle), Udonis Haslem (health and safety protocols) and KZ Okpala (health and safety protocols).
With those four players out, Bjelica again played off the bench on Wednesday. In his second game with the Heat since last week’s trade, Bjelica finished scoreless and grabbed one rebound in five minutes.
All of Bjelica’s minutes came in the second half, as he entered the game as the Heat’s big when Adebayo went to the bench in the third quarter. Spoelstra opted to use Bjelica as Miami’s back-up big in the second half over rookie Precious Achiuwa, who did not play in the final two quarters.
Nunn was questionable to play Wednesday, but he was ruled out for the second straight game just a few hours before tip-off. Goran Dragic again started in Nunn’s place.
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 9:33 PM.
