When familiarity becomes a weapon for the Heat

When the Miami Heat first lost at home to the Detroit Pistons back in November, Bam Adebayo already knew where the conversation needed to go.

“What did he have, 18?” Adebayo said after Miami’s failed comeback attempt. “Duncan had a good night tonight. I feel like we let him off the hook a lot on the defensive end, but we gotta see him again so we feel like we'll bounce back.”

It was a revealing comment, not because it singled out Duncan Robinson, but because it acknowledged familiarity. Adebayo wasn’t guessing. He was speaking from years of shared experience, from a partnership that once powered Miami’s offense and now presents a vulnerability the Heat are increasingly comfortable attacking.

In the two meetings against Detroit this season, Miami has done exactly what Adebayo hinted at. They haven’t prioritized Robinson like a shooter to be tracked as much as a defender to be tested, and the results have tilted towards Miami’s favor.

During their current four-game winning streak, the Miami Heat have been defined by rediscovering who they are. After an uneven middle stretch in December, Miami recommitted to pace, movement, and pressure, principles that fueled their best early-season basketball. That identity resurfaced in wins over Atlanta, Indiana, and Detroit, games where the Heat didn’t simply execute better but chose their pressure points with, as head coach Erik Spoelstra loves to preach, "intention."

Against Detroit, a pressure point has been Robinson.

There are no secrets in the NBA

Robinson’s place in Miami history complicates the matchup. During his years with the Heat, he became the franchise’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, set the single-season record for threes, and tied team marks for three-point shooting in both regular-season and playoff games. His rise from undrafted shooter to offensive focal point was inseparable from Adebayo’s development as a playmaking center. Their dribble-handoff game became one of the most reliable actions in the league, a constant stream of movement, timing, and counters that punished even slight defensive mistakes.

Adebayo learned exactly how Robinson liked the ball delivered. Robinson learned how Adebayo’s defender would react. The chemistry was mechanical and instinctive at the same time, built over thousands of repetitions.

That shared history is what makes the current dynamic so stark. Miami now understands precisely how difficult it can be for Robinson to defend those same actions and isolations. And they have built their approach accordingly.

Across two games, Heat ballhandlers and wings have forced Robinson into on-ball situations, often early in possessions and often with the floor spaced to remove help. The numbers underline how deliberate it has been.

Norman Powell spent more time matched against Robinson than any other Miami player. In just over five minutes of matchup time, Powell scored 13 points on seven shots, shooting better than 70 percent while drawing fouls and forcing rotations. A good chunk of them came early in the third quarter when the Heat went on their game-controlling run right out of halftime.