Heat fills open two-way spot with Javonte Smart. Also, halfcourt offensive metrics to know
The Miami Heat did not waste any time in filling the two-way spot previously held by Caleb Martin.
The Heat signed developmental guard Javonte Smart to a two-way contract on Tuesday night just hours after converting Martin’s two-way deal into a standard deal. Smart will not be with the team for Thursday’s game against the Hornets in Charlotte, as he’ll remain in the G League.
Smart, who went undrafted out of LSU last year, has been on a scoring binge with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He totaled 40 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 8-of-13 shooting on threes in Tuesday’s win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Smart, 22, has averaged 23.4 points while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 34.7 percent on threes, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 12 games with the Skyforce this season.
Smart also signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this season in November, but was waived on Jan. 13. He totaled 31 points on 11-of-43 (25.6 percent) shooting from the field and 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) shooting on threes, 19 rebounds and 14 assists in 160 minutes over 13 games with the Bucks before he was released.
Smart is a familiar face, as he spent summer league and training camp with the Heat. His cousin is Keith Smart, a former NBA head coach who also served as a Heat assistant coach on Erik Spoelstra’s staff for two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
With the addition of Smart, both of the Heat’s two-way contract slots are now filled. Guard Kyle Guy occupies the other two-way spot.
Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax. Smart is now eligible to play in every remaining regular-season game for the Heat after the NBA recently eliminated the 50-game limit for two-way contract players, but those on two-way deals are not eligible for the playoffs.
THE SLOW DOWN
The Dallas Mavericks slowed the pace and the Heat’s offense on Tuesday night.
Between their methodical style and 48.6 percent shooting in the final two quarters, the Mavericks controlled the tempo in a second half that was played at an ultra-slow pace of 89 possessions per 48 minutes.
The results weren’t good for the Heat, which lost the second half 56-40 in a 107-99 loss to the Mavericks at FTX Arena.
The Heat shot just 12 of 40 (30 percent) from the field and 1 of 14 (7.1 percent) from three-point range in the final two quarters against a Mavericks team that owns the league’s fifth-best defensive rating this season.
“They can do this to you,” Spoelstra said. “Get you in the mud, make it tough, and just get you into a grind game whereas in the past it used to be just kind of a little bit more pace and all that. That’s what they did. They slowed us down. We didn’t have a whole lot of easy baskets in transition, they stayed at home on our shooters for the most part in our halfcourt sets. We did get some good opportunities in the paint. But then they just got some key stops repeatedly there in the fourth quarter.”
Miami’s halfcourt offense has been shaky at times this season, which is somewhat concerning considering playoff games are usually played at a slower pace than regular-season games.
The Heat entered Wednesday with the NBA’s seventh-best offensive rating but the 12th-most efficient halfcourt offense this season. The Heat has outperformed its halfcourt metrics in part because it has added the second-most points through transition play at four points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The Heat posted a subpar offensive rating of 88.1 points per 100 halfcourt plays against the Mavericks.
“I don’t think we’re nowhere near where we need to be and we don’t want to be there yet, honestly,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’re only in February. We play for April, May and June. That’s our whole thing is we want to be our best team in April, May, June. You want to continue to get better, so we don’t want to be at that high point of understanding what we’re going to do and knowing exactly where we want to be. There’s going to be some ups and downs, and some bumps.”
Over the last 10 seasons, only one team has made the NBA Finals with a halfcourt offense that ranked outside of the top 10 in the regular season: The Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 11:03 PM.
