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It was February 26.
The Miami Heat just lost an embarrassing game to the Minnesota Timberwolves at home. The loss was his fourth of 5 games: losses to the Wolves, Cavaliers, Hawks and Jazz.
The Heat were depressed. Although they have been good for most of the season, it has been a difficult stage. They were giving up too many points and they weren’t the defensive team the Miami Heat expected.
Just before the NBA season was suspended, the Heat lost at home to the Charlotte Hornets. That was wrong. A game they should have won, they just couldn’t make any stops down the stretch and Devonte Graham prevented the Heat from achieving a playoff birth that night.
Then the NBA suspended the game. The Heat would not meet again for another 4 months.
That rupture in addition to being in the bubble has changed something for the Miami Heat. And now, entering their sixth NBA final in franchise history (fifth for Spoelstra as head coach), they have reinvented defensive flexibility.
It started with a lineup change. Meyers Leonard, who started 49 of his 51 games and averaged 20 minutes per game, out of the rotation. The Heat got smaller, playing only Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk as greats. Goran Dragic took on a starting role and Kendrick Nunn got minutes at the venue, allowing more time for Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala.
Erik Spoelstra made his squad and team capable of adapting to every type of offense they faced, and they didn’t freak out when others thought it wouldn’t work.
This is how it looked:
ROUND 1 vs the INDIANA PACERS
Defensive strategy: change everything
Spoelstra believed that there was no player who could beat the Heat on his own at the Indiana Pacers. So the Heat played straight man-to-man defense, but they pretty much changed everything.
Sometimes, Myles Turner would force him not to change because of his height, but Miami gave very easy points to the Pacers. In fact, they kept the Pacers at an offensive rating of 105, not very well. What he did was push the Pacers to look for their isolation mismatches. And boy they did: they would project it until Malcolm Brogdon, Victor Oladipo or TJ Warren joined in one of their favorite matches: Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro or Goran Dragic.
And that strategy took the Pacers out of who they were: A team-oriented approach turned into iso ball and that’s not what they are. Sure, it worked from time to time, but when it came time to push, it paralyzed what they had to do. And in Game 4, the Heat had discovered them so much that they limited them to 87 points.
This was very similar to how the Heat played defense all year, and they used the right people to create their advantage. His constant change led to just a 13.7% offensive rebound rate for the Pacers, while Miami was at 23.1%. It obviously worked, and Miami swept the Pacers.
ROUND 2 vs the MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Defensive strategy: build the wall
The Bucks presented a different problem: They have the most dynamic player in the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo. But Spoelstra learned from what the Toronto Raptors did the year before by “building a wall” against Giannis.
Every time the MVP pushed the ball to the ground, all 5 pairs of eyes were on him and they leaned toward the painting. Giannis rarely had a moment to get to the rim. If it did, it was a euro flip or move and it had a couple of those. The Heat bet the other players beat them. And beyond Khris Middleton, no one made a difference.
Yes, Brook Lopez scored and had an impact. But that’s the price you pay when you build the wall. The Heat did a mix of changing and dropping screens, but almost everything was geared toward giving Giannis a hard time. They got his hands active on his units and forced him to hit them from the free throw line when he got to the paint.
There are very few teams that the Heat would do this type of defense against and the Bucks didn’t beat the Heat with what the defense gave them, meaning Giannis didn’t have enough teammates to step up and score when everyone was on. concentrating on him.
ROUND 3 vs the BOSTON CELTS
Defensive strategy: Zone 2-3
It’s a rarity in the NBA to play zone defense. With the defensive three-second rule, it takes a lot of attention to detail and mobility to play a zone. But when the Heat took on the Celtics, this was the strategy Spo knew would pay dividends.
They didn’t play it all the time, but they did make considerable stretches for the Celtics to play in the zone. Brad Stevens worked tirelessly to solve it … and he did sometimes. Daniel Theis sets up high ball screens for Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum to get into the paint. But collectively, the zone pulled the Celtics off their biggest lead … those one-on-one and specifically Theis-Walker pick and roll adjustment. Derrick Jones Jr. was a top staple of the Heat zone all season, but not this series. Andre Iguodala and Jimmy Butler on top with Herro, Dragic or Robinson on the other sides with Bam in the middle. The Heat were effective in the long run.
Even though he was really effective in Game 2, the Heat went back and forth so Boston wouldn’t feel too comfortable playing him. And that led to greater success throughout the series. The constant change of look forced the Celtics to decide what to do on the fly. And often, the Heat made the Celtics settle for contested shots, which is exactly what they wanted.
To add to the training settings, Spo removed Kendrick Nunn, Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones Jr. from the rotation and sprayed in a few minutes from Solomon Hill. He’s not afraid to do anything to make the right change for the game or series.
Erik spoelstra now he has coached this team to the NBA Finals. Some say he only made it in the past thanks to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. But now, probably in the prime of training, Spo has shown the casual NBA fan what kind of coach he is.
People in the NBA … they knew it. There is a crazy respect for this man. But this team, right now, right now, is the product of supreme training flexibility that will once again be put to the test against LeBron James and the LA Lakers.
