3-point issues not too serious

Problems beyond arc are fixable

One of the Miami Heat’s more puzzling seasonlong trends was once again present in their loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, but they’re encouraged that changes are coming.

The Heat (22-20) made nine of their 34 3-point attempts (26.5%) in a 137-110 loss to the Pacers, wrapping up a week in which they shot 28.3% from beyond the arc on 36.3 attempts per night across four games.

The recent 3-point showings only further displayed one of the more perplexing developments for the Heat this season: how they went from one of the NBA’s best 3-point-shooting teams just a year ago to one of the worst this season.

The Heat have shot 34.5% from beyond the arc (the fourth-worst mark in the NBA)

on 36.5 attempts per game this season after making 37.9% of their 3s last year, which was the second-best mark in the league behind only the Utah Jazz’s 38%.

“Shots aren’t going in at the same rate they were last year, but we can’t get discouraged by that,” said Tyler Herro, with the Heat scheduled for a rematch versus the Pacers at 1 p.m. on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“Shooters shoot and we just got to continue to shoot.”

Most of the Heat’s high-volume 3-point shooters from last season who are still on the team have witnessed significant dips in their shooting percentages.

Duncan Robinson has made

38.5% on 8.5 3-point attempts per game after shooting a historic 44.6% (on 8.3 attempts) on 3s last season. Kelly Olynyk has shot a career-low 32.8% on 3-pointers this year after making a career-high 40.6% last season.

Herro (38.9% last season to 32.9 this year) and Goran Dragic (36.7 to 34.9) have both witnessed dips in their shooting percentages.

Kendrick Nunn is essentially shooting the same on 3-pointers this season as he was last year (35% in 2019-20 to 35.1 this season) while Andre Iguodala has shot 34.4% on 3s this season after shooting 29.8 last year.

To coach Erik Spoelstra, the process of creating good looks from beyond the arc has been there — the shots simply aren’t falling.

“I’m looking at if our offense is trending how we want it to, and whether we’re getting the kind of looks and flow to our strengths,” he said. “For the last six weeks, it’s been trending in the right direction save for the last two games. I don’t want to necessarily overreact to this.

“Our shooters, if they’re getting the right 3s, I truly believe it’s a matter of time — they’re too good of shooters for that not to change. I would hate to be on the other side of it, where you’re just hoping that our guys miss, because that will change.”

Herro added that the Heat’s strong 3-point-shooting season last year has changed how teams defend them.

“Teams know who we are now,” he said. “Last year, we might’ve caught some people by surprise, but this year there’s no surprise about us. [We] just continue to put the work in and continue to shoot. You can’t make the shots you don’t take.”

The Heat are creating quality 3-point shots this season, but they haven’t capitalized on them as they did last year. They shot 37.5% on “open” and

40.3% on “wide- open” 3-pointers last season, taking 14.2 and

14.7 attempts per game in each category, respectively.

This year, they’re taking 13.6 “open” and 16 “wide-open” 3s per contest, but they’re making just 33.7 and 38% of those shots, respectively.

“We need to continue to work to try to get good shots,” Robinson said. “If we do that, the percentages will take care of themselves.

“Not interested in making any excuses or anything. I can speak to myself personally that if I just focus on taking the right shots, I’ll be good.”

And the Heat are optimistic that once the shots from beyond the arc start going down, everything else will fall into place offensively.

“You start to see the ball go in and the hoop starts to get a little bigger,” Robinson said. “There’s definitely a psychological component to shooting from an individual and team standpoint.

“We’re just focused on what we can control. You can’t always control when shots aren’t going in.

“Last year we really needed to make shots to win; this year we’ve been able to win in the mud, kind of ugly. Once our offense comes around, we’ll be a better team because of it.”

“There’s definitely a psychological component to shooting from an individual and team standpoint. We’re just focused on what we can control. You can’t always control when shots aren’t going in.”

— Duncan Robinson, Heat guard

HUH/AP NAM Y. Duncan Robinson is one of many Heat players whose 3-point percentage has dipped.