(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
While we’re only days removed from the start of the season, the Miami Heat are in the middle of arguably the toughest stretch of games they’ll endure all season.
It won’t get any easier over the next 10 games, but they’ve fared well against the Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks, respectively.
Through less than a week of action, the Heat — at 2-1 — are No. 12 in offense and No. 3 in defense, sporting the NBA’s ninth-best effective field goal percentage and eighth-best true-shooting percentage.
The beauty in their surge is that everyone’s played a hand in it — especially the Heat’s second-unit, which provided a huge spark in their 115-107 win against the Knicks Sunday.
“It’s a really gritty group,” Spoelstra said on his team’s bench after Sunday’s win. “It’s a competitive group. Where you think you may have advantages if you’re the other team, they make up for it with their activity and their toughness. They have a lot of belief and spirit about them that’s great.
“And then offensively — wow. They really play a collective game. The ball moves, they cut, they move great without the ball. They find open players. It’s really a fun group to watch. That’s two games in a row where they’ve really impacted the game.”
Heat bench has been one of best in NBA … so far:
(Mandatory Credit: Brandon Dill/AP Photo)
It remains to be seen which early-season lineup and statistical trends will be sustainable.
But the Miami Heat bench has been arguably the NBA’s best — against three quality opponents nonetheless.
Entering Monday, their second unit — led by Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic and Simone Fontecchio — ranks No. 3 in offensive rating, No. 2 in effective field goal percentage and true-shooting percentage, No. 4 in steals per 100, No. 5 in rebounding percentage and atop the leaderboard in both NET Rating and assists per 100 possessions.
That’s good, eh? Moreover, in their two wins, the Heat’s second-unit has finished a combined plus-36 in bench scoring, running-and-gunning teams up-and-down the hardwood while generating deflections at a high rate.
As I detailed here, Jaquez has been a complete revelation with his downhill play finishing. Jovic is one of the team’s best passers in the open court, fueling some of the their best transition possession. Furthermore, after a rough preseason, Fontecchio’s canned 50.0 percent (8-16) of his 3-pointers.
Miami’s triumvirate — plus Dru Smith — has been mixed into different combinations with at least one of Norman Powell and Bam Adebayo.
Last year, the Heat’s bench was good-not-great. They’ve clearly benefitted from the new up-tempo offense. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they continue to gain trust as long as they sustain this pace, produce paint touches, keep the ball moving and, most importantly, putting the ball in the cylinder.
“We want to feed that group as much confidence as possible,” Spoelstra said. “I want them to be slightly-to-heavily unreasonable. It’s been a great boost for us.”
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!