With a team record in sight, Heat players explain Duncan Robinson’s impact on offense
Duncan Robinson’s elite skill is shooting, but availability isn’t far behind.
The Miami Heat’s starting forward is on track to appear in his 174th consecutive game on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls at FTX Arena — a streak that dates back to April 9, 2019 — as he’s listed as probable to play with a left quadriceps contusion. That would tie the franchise record held by Glen Rice, who appeared in 174 straight games for the Heat during a streak that spanned from 1992 to 1994.
Robinson, 27, has earned that consistent role because of his ability to make threes. Although he’s shooting just 33.3 percent from three-point range on 8.5 attempts per game through the first 26 games this season after making an incredible 44.6 percent of his threes in 2019-20 and 40.8 percent of his threes in 2020-21, Robinson’s teammates have still felt the benefits of his presence.
“He doesn’t have to make shots,” Heat forward Max Strus said. “Obviously, he wants to shoot better. But just him being on the floor spaces the floor so much for us because guys aren’t going to help off of him. He has the reputation, everybody knows how good of a shooter he is. So guys aren’t going to help. He opens up so much floor space and when he’s in actions as a trigger, he creates so much for our offense because guys overreact to everything. He’s really valuable out on the floor at all times.”
With opponents usually blitzing Robinson off handoffs and screens to prevent quality three-point looks, it often leaves the Heat with a four-on-three advantage if he can make the pass out of the double team. That type of sequence has led to easy opportunities around the basket and open corner threes.
“I think everybody sees that part of it,” Heat guard Tyler Hero said. “When he’s coming off handoffs and ball screens and they blitz, that pocket pass is there. So even if he’s not shooting the ball, he’s a threat to have to be guarded out there.”
While Robinson’s teammates see the space that he’s creating because of the attention he draws, the numbers haven’t necessarily backed that up this season. The Heat entered Saturday with a slightly better offensive rating (scoring 109.4 points per 100 possessions) when he has been on the bench than when he has been on the court (scoring 108 points per 100 possessions) this season.
But over a larger sample size, Robinson’s impact is clear. The Heat outscored opponents by a combined margin of 469 points over the previous two regular seasons when he was playing and were outscored by 252 points when he wasn’t.
“It’s not easy the way they guard him all over the whole game,” Herro said. “Sometimes two guys on him, especially when he’s coming off handoffs and ball screens. They’re going to put two guys on him to make sure he can’t get a clean look. I think just try to find him as much as we can in transition to get him some easy looks is important.”
For Robinson, feedback from his coaches and teammates is really all that matters. He tries not to pay attention to the outside noise, intentionally avoiding social media whether he’s in the middle of a hot streak or shooting slump.
“I stay off of all that stuff,” Robinson said of social media. “Just kind of like curate what you listen to and what has access to you. Listen to the opinions that you actually value like my teammates, coaches, people in your corner. Just focus on the work, the day to day of it.”
Robinson’s mentality: Process over results. As long as he likes his three-point looks and he’s still helping to create space for others, he’ll ride the ups and downs of his three-point shooting percentage over the 82-game season.
“It’s a skill you develop like anything else,” Robinson said of carrying that approach. “I’ve gotten better at it as my career has gone on. I think it obviously becomes more difficult in times you feel like you’re struggling. But I think that’s probably when it becomes more important, as well.”
BULLS OUTBREAK
The Bulls enter Saturday’s game against the Heat with five players in health and safety protocols. Derrick Jones Jr., DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, Matt Thomas and Javonte Green are currently in protocols and will miss Saturday’s game.
The Bulls signed Stanley Johnson and Alfonzo McKinnie through the hardship exception in recent days to add reinforcement to their short-handed roster.
“I think we all are able to recognize these are still unique and extraordinary times,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the Bulls’ situation. “You look back to last year to all the different times when teams had guys out because of protocols and everything. We were one of them and we went through a rough stretch for three weeks or a month where we were really decimated by that. It’s a really tough thing right now league-wide. We want our business to continue to move forward, and that’s why there’s continued vigilance and doing what we can to make sure we’re doing our part knowing that that’s not going to guarantee everything either.”
SANTA BAM
Heat star center Bam Adebayo hosted his fourth annual toy drive on Friday at Samuel K. Johnson Youth Center in Liberty City as part of his BBB (Bam, Books and Brotherhood) Foundation.
The event helped to provide toys to over 1,200 children from Liberty City.
