Heat get outplayed by Lakers

It is possible that the Heat tried to stay with the Lakers on offense. It was working up until late in the second quarter. The Heat were trailing 59-63 when Quentin Grimes got an offensive rebound and scored to push the score to 59-65. Then Andrew Wiggins missed a three, Bam Adebayo got an offensive rebound and missed the putback.

Luka Doncic scored on the next possession, Wiggins fouled and Bam Adebayo got hit with a technical foul. Austin Reaves hit the free throw and the Lakers were up by nine. The Heat couldn’t keep up on offense after that. In the second half, the Heat were cold on offense. They were putting up shots so they were finding opportunities on offense.

Defense is a work-in-progress

Davion Mitchell was quoted (in the Sun-Sentinel) as saying the following about the Heat’s defensive problems:

“I think that we think that it’s gonna happen because we’re really good individual defenders,” Mitchell said of what is proving to be a fatal flaw. “If we don’t, if you don’t want to play defense as a team, then you can’t do it by yourself. So, it’s not surprising.”

Last season with Tyler Herro, the problem was that the Heat didn’t have good individual defenders. That was true. Now, the Heat have new personnel that are used to other defensive concepts even though they are good individual defenders. This is a “baptism by fire” for the Heat as opposing teams are taking advantage. No doubt about it that the coaching staff is aware and will adjust.

Communication is the biggest issue

Klay Thompson scored 19 points last night and appears to be meeting the promise he made at the start of the season (to show he still could contribute.) Bam Adebayo commented in a Yahoo Sports article that fatigue compounds the lack of communication and multiplies the mistakes.

In every organization, when new staff members are put together on a team, there is a period of transition. Players try to be “selfless” and defer to other players or settle on their personal habits and communication errors happen. Since it is the seventh game of the season, it is much better for the Heat for these issues to happen now instead of the opposite of “instant success, future collapse.”

Final takes

Any fan will still take the current Heat individual defensive talent opposed to the Heat defenders from the last seasons. When the team begins to communicate better on defense, they will be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. They get a chance to beat up on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and then play Stephen Curry and Draymond Green the next night in San Francisco.