Spoelstra: Defense needs to improve
At what point does a trend turn into a real area of concern?
That’s a question the Miami Heat is facing.
After posting the NBA’s sixth-best defensive rating (allowing 102.5 points per 100 possessions) during the first month of the season, the Heat entered Thursday ranked 14th in that category with 108.2 points allowed per 100 possessions.
The reason for that decline is inconsistent play. Since the start of December, the Heat has produced the league’s 19th-best defensive rating (111.3 points per 100 possessions) during a 29-game span.
“It is,” center Bam Adebayo said Thursday when asked if the Heat’s defensive numbers are disappointing. “Because we know what we’re capable of. And [coach Erik Spoelstra] is really hammering that home, and we just got to figure it out. It’s not up to our coaching staff. Our coaching staff can’t do it for us. We’ve got to do it for ourselves.”
The Heat has finished with a top-10 defense in four consecutive seasons. The last time it finished outside of the top 10 was in 2014-15 when it posted a 37-45 record.
“We’ve really got to be vulnerable when we get fatigued to come out of the game,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that’s a pride thing with all players. You know, you want to play until your coach makes the sub. I feel like we’ve got to do a better job of when you’re tired, just raise your hand. Sometimes Coach Spo ignores you. But, for the most part, he’ll get you out and get somebody fresh in so you can keep that same energy up.”
Despite the defensive struggles, the Heat has still won games because of an offense that entered Thursday ranked eighth best (scoring 111.5 points per 100 possessions) in the NBA. Miami is 32-15 this season, with its next game Saturday against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.
But lately, the defensive issues have led to unfavorable results. The Heat is
5-5 over its past 10 games.
The Heat has thrown in a lot of zone defense to keep opponents off balance, but that scheme has also produced mixed results.
“We’re working to get to a better level defensively, all across the board,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not just our man, it’s our transition defense and our zone. We’re capable of it. We’ve had great moments in either scheme. Our lack of consistency has been the biggest challenge, the hurdle we’ve been trying to overcome. We’ll get there.
We just have to continue to work at it, drill it, watch it, teach it, learn from our mistakes, all the above.”
Among the factors contributing to the Heat’s defensive slippage:
Forward Justise Winslow, who is considered one of the team’s top defenders, has missed 25 of the past 26 games because of a lower back bone bruise and has played in just four games since December.
The Heat is allowing opponents to shoot the NBA’s third-highest percentage on shots from inside the restricted area this season at 66 percent. But Miami has also allowed the league’s sixth-fewest shots from that area at
26.6 per game, so that is working in its favor.
The shot profile of the Heat’s defense could be better. While Miami isn’t allowing a lot of shots around the rim this season, it also isn’t forcing that many midrange shots.
Opponents entered Thursday averaging 37.4 three-point shot attempts per game this season, which is third most in the NBA. The good news for Miami is that it’s holding teams to 32.9 percent shooting from three-point range, which is the lowest in the league.
As for midrange opportunities — which are considered inefficient because they are long two-pointers — the Heat doesn’t get teams to shoot many of them. Opponents are averaging 10.6 midrange shots per game, which is the fifth fewest in the NBA.
The Heat probably would like to force teams into more midrange shots and fewer paint shots moving forward.
THIS AND THAT
Spoelstra said on
Jan. 17 that Winslow would miss the next two weeks because of his back injury and then be reevaluated. Friday is the two-week mark, and there is still little clarity on Winslow’s status.
“I don’t have a new update for you today,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “We’ll continue to re-evaluate him. He’s going through the process of getting right. And when I have the next update, I’ll update you guys . ... Right now, he’s still just doing his work in the training room and the weight room and conditioning a little bit.”
Spoelstra also said he didn’t have an update on guard Kendrick Nunn, who has missed the past three games with bilateral Achilles soreness.
The participants for
The Rising Stars Game will be announced Friday at noon. Heat rookie guards
Tyler Herro and Nunn, and second-year forward
Duncan Robinson are candidates for the Feb. 14 game during All-Star Weekend in Chicago.