Oops, there it is! Heat’s lob game on the rise again

Oops? They did it again.

For the Miami Heat, it is just another sign that the chemistry is returning, with seven victories in their last 10 games, as they head into a four-game homestand that opens Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena.

In Monday night’s 108-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder that completed a 4-3 road trip, the Heat scored on five lobs off alley-oop passes, one off their season high. It was their third game with four or more this season, including the second time against the Thunder.

For as much as the Heat have thrived in victories with their 3-point shooting, it is the vertical spacing created in the paint that has helped unlock what often has been dormant offense this season.

Four of Monday night’s lob finishes came from center Bam Adebayo.

“When you have a lot of shooting out there, and guys don’t come off shooters, that’s the play that’s there,” center Kelly Olynyk said earlier this season. “We have to complete those if that’s what the defense is giving us.

“It’s extremely hard to guard unless you bring another person in. And if you do, that’s when you open up the 3-point line and

drive-and-kicks and that kind of stuff.”

Three of Adebayo’s alley-oop finishes Monday came off feeds from Kendrick Nunn, as well as one from Gabe Vincent. There also was a Precious Achiuwa alley-oop finish off a lob from Jimmy Butler.

“We’ve got a good feel for one another’s tendencies on the court,” Adebayo said of those finishes off Nunn assists.

To coach Erik Spoelstra it is a necessary component of a wellrounded offense, particularly with a rotation that features the athleticism of Adebayo and Achiuwa. But one that also requires precision.

“I think you have to have those kinds of dynamic rollers, guys that can get behind the defense and elevate above the defense, and have the hands to be able to finish those plays,” he said. “You have to have the spacing, and the respect of the shooters, to be able to create that gravity. And you have to have the guys that can deliver the ball, as well.

“That’s something you have to constantly work on and develop, and also has been a mistake play for us, to be frank. So we’re trying to make it more efficient than it is. We’re getting big-time results in it, but teams are scouting us now, and sometimes bringing that third defender. And we have to be able to read that, so it’s not turning into a turnover, or we’re throwing it into a crowd.”

The lob rhythm was particularly pronounced in early January, with six alley-oop baskets in consecutive games against the Dallas Mavericks and Thunder. But then came the stretch when the roster was ravaged by absences due to pandemic protocols. Now, with guard Goran Dragic expected back soon from the ankle sprain that kept him out during the just-completed trip, there is the hope for more.

“Some guys pick it up quicker than others,” Spoelstra said. “That’s something very natural for Goran, particularly with the personnel that we’ve had over the years. Everybody develops a pretty quick chemistry with Goran. He can deliver a lot of different kinds of passes, for those guys.”

At times, the approach has become contagious — for better or worse.

“Now, with the way defenses are playing, I’m learning how to become a little bit opportunistic in those moments, where I can kind of get downhill and create for somebody else,” guard Duncan Robinson said of getting involved in the lob actions. “Yeah, it’s not a finished product and I’ve got to continue to develop in that area.”

It has become part of the Culture’s culture, as Achiuwa noted, from the moment he arrived to camp and was approached by Dragic.

“He was one of the first guys to say something to me,” Achiuwa said. “The first thing he said was, ‘Hey, I need to work out with you. We need to work on that pick-androll lob.’ That was the first conversation he ever had with me.”

Mostly he has sat back, studied, able to appreciate how the season Adebayo and Nunn spent together led to those three wake-up calls at the rim on Monday night, at a point when the Heat needed a jolt of caffeine at the end of their trip.

To Heat President Pat Riley, it was why the selection of Achiuwa in the first round made so much sense, because of how the lob game can open such possibilities.

“I’ve seen it in this league already this year with very, very athletic players, who are mobile and can score and they’re vertical with lobs and dunks and things like that,” he said. “It will just open up the court, and you start running it a little bit more.”