The Miami Heat needed some fourth-quarter heroism from Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic to pull away from the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their first-round series, but that was not necessary for Game 2. Even with Victor Oladipo declined to play for the Pacers after his eye injury, the Heat never kicked in the second half and coasted to a 109-100 win to go 2-0 up.
A big reason why was Duncan Robinson’s play. The rise of the second year ahead as a key player for the Heat, and one of the most dangerous shooters in the league, has been one of the best stories of the season. In Game 2, he turned 3-pointers on the first two possessions, and never looked back, finishing with 24 points on 7 of 8 from downtown.
His seven 3s tied a Heat franchise record and put him in a club with Final Legend Robert Horry as the only two players in postseason history to ever hit seven-plus 3s without even attempting a two-pointer. That second “record” is extremely niche, but it’s still a nice little remark.
The history-making performance of Robinson helping the Heat take a commanding 2-0 lead in what was one of the most competitive series of the first round is the clear header here. But a closer look at Robinson’s performance marks an important point about this Miami team.
You wouldn’t really think of them as an offensive powerhouse, but they finished seventh in the league with an offensive rating of 111.9. Enforcing that without having an average player of 20 points per game is an impressive achievement, and they did it by shooting the lights out of the ball. Led by Robinson, she hit 37.9 percent of her visits from 3-point country in the regular season, second only to the Jazz.
Among players who are part of their playoff rotation, Robinson, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic all shot at least 36.7 percent from deep, and that many shots leave you little room for error if you try to defend. One small mistake and you will probably give up an open 3 for a good shooter.
The Robinson 3s of Game 2 are this problem. Let’s start with the first possession of the game. Look at all the work that Oladipo is chasing him around screens to get started. Then, in an attempt to see help at the station, he takes one step too far towards the ball, and Robinson hits the 3. Not terrible defense somehow, but also not enough against Robison.
Next time on the floor, Dragic missed an open 3 from the dribbling hand-off, and the Pacers had a chance to get a stop, despite not playing great defense at first. But they fail to get the handball, because Crowder cuts some space, lifts it down, and walks out to Robinson for the open look. Another small mistake is punished.
Here is another example of starting in the second half. The Heat swing the ball around the perimeter, and Oladipo flies through on the closeout. Robinson reads that, dumps the ball to Butler instead of shooting, and then moves on to an open 3. Great effort from Oladipo, but just a little overweight results in an open look.
Finally, we will also look at these from the first minutes of the third quarter. The Heat try to push the ball into the transition, and when Oladipo plays back, he gets hit with Bam Adebayo and they both crash to the floor. That leaves no one near Robinson, and he gets what is essentially a lineup for him. This was just pure bad luck, but again taking the Heat advantage.
All told, there is nothing irregular in any of these clips. No fully inflated assignments or bad effort, but it does not matter. The Heat, and Robinson in particular, are such elite shooters that there is no margin for error in defending them.
