Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A lesson learned on provoking star Young
The last time the Miami Heat evoked Trae Young’s ire, the combustible Atlanta Hawks guard simmered for two months before unleashing the wrath of a 50-burger in response.
Now there only is a mere 48-hour wait for the opportunity to reignite.
It is among the reasons the Heat tread delicately after limiting Young to 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting in Sunday night’s 109-99 victory over Atlanta at American-Airlines Arena, also to host the Hawks on Tuesday night.
“We’ll definitely see a different Trae next game,” guard Kendrick Nunn said.
The Heat have experience in such matters.
In December of last season, after the Hawks took a six-point lead with a minute to go in a game at American-Airlines Arena, Young threw his arms to his side as if to cancel out the remainder of the game and mouthed, “It’s over.”
It wasn’t. The Heat went on to win by 14 in overtime, leading Jimmy Butler to call Young on Instagram, “Teller of the future.”
In February, Young offered 50 points of response in a Hawks victory in Atlanta, shortly thereafter posting on Twitter, “Jimmy Butler was right, I can see the future. I saw tonight happening a while ago.”
So as the teams exited the Heat’s court Sunday night, the bravado was limited from the Heat perspective, partly because Butler was not part of the mix, sidelined by knee inflammation.
“Great scorers just make it a nightmare for you,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You have to be locked in and disciplined. You have to be able to trust a system and each other regardless of what the scheme is. It has taken us some time. At the end of the day, he missed some looks. It always comes down to make or miss sometimes.”
Yet, if the Heat didn’t want to irritate Young, who stands 10th in the league in scoring at 26.5 points per game, their defense did.
While former West Palm Beach prep product John Collins closed with a game-high 34 points for the Hawks, it was all part of a plan to prioritize shutting down Young.
And, yes, Young noticed . . . and vowed to go to school on the approach, with pandemic protocols limiting South Florida off days to little more than the four walls of a hotel room.
“I couldn’t get some shots to fall. A lot of it falls on me. I couldn’t get a lot of shots to fall and I just needed a couple of more to fall for us to stay in the game late,” he said, failing to reach 20 points for only the third time in his last 21 games.
“It’s tough when they’re trapping and they’re mixing up their defenses and we’re calling something and then they kind of switch it up and then it’s late in the shot clock and we’re just out there.”
Typically, the Heat coaching staff will target specific games and specific opponents to put together
versions of defensive game plans on steroids.
Sunday was one of those games. The difference, unlike previous eviscerations, is that there will be an immediate opportunity for push back.
“It’s tricky,” said Young, who still finished with a game-high nine assists, as well as eight rebounds. “They got a bunch of different types of defenses that they switch to during the game and, I mean, if you’re not aware of it, you’re not reading it, you can get out of sorts and out of character on offense.
“So for us, we’ve got to just be us, and play fast and play the way we know how to play. No matter what defense they’re in, we’ve got to be aware of what they’re in and just find ways to attack it early.”
This Heat season, of course, is about more than Young or the Hawks. It is about the six-game winning streak that on Tuesday will present the opportunity to move above .500 for the first time.
The last four times the Heat stood at .500, they lost their next game.
“We’re finding our stride and starting to play Miami Heat basketball,” center Bam Adebayo said. “That’s the biggest thing for us, that we’re playing together, making multiple efforts and getting it done on both sides of the floor.”