Heat’s P.J. Tucker regular-season experiment working in playoffs: ‘I love playing the five’
In order to survive seven weeks without starting center Bam Adebayo in the middle of the regular season, the Miami Heat was forced to explore different solutions. Some ideas worked, some didn’t.
But the Heat experimented with different combinations and schemes while Adebayo was recovering from Dec. 6 thumb surgery that it may not have ever looked into otherwise.
One look that the Heat turned to frequently while Adebayo was away has become an important group that has produced positive results in its first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks: Small lineups with forward P.J. Tucker at center.
“When we had to do that in those months without Bam, I liked it,” coach Erik Spoelstra said ahead of Tuesday night’s Game 5 at FTX Arena. “I don’t know what the plus-minuses were, but those were valuable, versatile minutes for us. But most importantly, we ended up being able to see something different just in case we needed it. We were able to access that now based on need in this series.”
Tucker is agile enough at 6-foot-5 to switch onto and stay in front guards, and strong enough at 245 pounds to battle traditional big men in the post and on the glass. As one of the best corner three-point shooters in the NBA, he can also drag opposing centers out of the paint when he’s playing as the big man in the Heat’s small lineups.
While Adebayo was on the bench in Sunday’s Game 4 win in Atlanta, the Heat used Tucker at center for about 12 minutes. The Heat outscored the Hawks by 17 points during that time.
Those lineups have actually been very effective for the Heat throughout the first four games of the series, as the Heat entered Tuesday outscoring the Hawks by an incredible 55.4 points per 100 possessions with Tucker playing at center in the first round, according to Cleaning the Glass. Those numbers include all of Tucker’s minutes with both Adebayo and usual backup center Dewayne Dedmon on the bench.
“I played a whole season at the five,” Tucker said, referring to his time with the Houston Rockets. “I love playing the five. I think it gives a different look for teams. You got somebody out there that can be up enough where guards can’t turn the corner and you can keep matchups. But still be able to take bigs off the glass, to be able to stretch the floor.
“Being at the five, to get my dribble handoffs, catch and shoots to pull the centers out of the middle so Jimmy [Butler] can work, Tyler [Herro] can get down hill, all our guards can go to work.”
The Heat’s lineups with Tucker at center have posted an excellent offensive rating of 137.5 points scored per 100 possessions and an elite defensive rating of 82.1 points allowed per 100 possessions in the playoffs. It’s a limited sample size of just 40 possessions, but still shows the potential of such combinations in certain situations.
As the Heat studied lineups with Tucker at center in the regular season, mainly when Adebayo was out, the metrics weren’t always great. But the look was still a net positive in the end, with the Heat outscoring teams by 6.9 points per 100 possessions in the regular season with the help of an offensive rating of 122.1 points scored per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of 115.2 points allowed per 100 possessions.
“They’re faster, a lot faster with that group being out there,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said Monday of the Heat’s smaller lineups.
The Tucker-at-center groups have turned into a weapon for the Heat, but he has also been effective in nearly every lineup he has been a part of. Tucker entered Game 5 shooting 16 of 24 (66.7 percent) from the field and 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) on threes, and with a plus/minus of plus-57 in the first-round series.
“How do you define a guy like P.J. Tucker? It’s really tough,” Spoelstra said. “I sum it up that he’s just a winner because he does it on both ends of the court. He has incredible versatility, where if you just put him in a box or look at him in a certain way, you would just think of him as a defender or corner three-point shooter. But for us, he does so many more things.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ If the Heat advances past the Hawks, Miami’s second-round playoff series would begin Monday at FTX Arena against the winner of the first-round matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.
The 76ers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Thursday in Toronto.
▪ Heat forward Max Strus was one of 12 NBA players to receive at least one vote for this season’s Most Improved Player of the Year Award, which went to Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. Strus finished with one third-place vote.
▪ The Heat won the 2022 NBA Sales & Marketing “Team of the Year” Award. The award covers performance during the last 24 months in key revenue driving areas such as ticketing, partnerships, digital marketing, strategy, analytics and performance, and overcoming COVID-related challenges.
The award was determined by a selection committee made up of team and league executives.
▪ Heat captain Udonis Haslem finished sixth in the voting for the 2021-22 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, which “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”
Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday won the award.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 11:22 AM.
