Heat make first breakthrough of season

Atlanta is more of a quickness and finesse team as per Couper Moorhead in NBA.com. Miami ran 54 pick and roll actions which was the most ever since the beginning of last season. They dominated Atlanta in the paint. The breakthrough was that the Heat offense was organized. The team had a purpose and maximized their strengths.

The best two-man duo in the NBA (maybe)

As per Brady Hawk on SI.com, the implementation of more pick and rolls led to Bam “eating as the roll man” (mid-range jumpers) and Giannis as the dunker. I would posit that if Giannis could improve his mid-range jump shot, then the switch between the two players would make history.

Both players have high basketball I.Q’s because they are “students of the game.” Davion Mitchell is the perfect complementary piece because he defends and knows how to pass the ball. Pelle Larsson also showed last night that he could feed players. The conclusion here is that the Heat offense could “push the defense to the baseline” before the defense can figure out who will score.

Final take

The Heat play Indiana on Friday. The Pacers are 2-3 and just lost to Philadelphia after leading by 29. Pascal Siakam scored 26, Andrew Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard both scored 18. Tyrese Halliburton won’t be playing because he suffered a mild hamstring injury in the game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Heat need to continue running this offense, i.e. “just keep shooting.” and when it stops, they can grow and change into a more effective offense. They do have arguably a team with the biggest basketball I.Q. since “The Heatles.” Klay Thompson isn’t doing much now but his time will come. In the Championship video of teams, this would be the time they describe the strengths of each player that complemented one another.