(Mandatory Credit: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The Miami Heat’s offense through one week is off to a record-breaking start after scoring 144 points twice for the first time in franchise history.
They lead the league in pace with the third-best offense, third-best defense. Obviously, we’re just four games into the season, but they’ve executed on both ends as well as anyone in the association through one week.
While the team’s scoring has rightfully gotten the most attention, one of the Heat’s biggest fatal flaws over the last three seasons was their lack of a pure playmaking guard. And Davion Mitchell, who signed a two-year, $24 million deal at the end of last season, has quietly filled that role through the first week of the season after being one of the Heat’s best passers down the stretch last season.
“We love it,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s win. “He has a great heart that he just wants to set other people up to score. And you need guys like that. He has a great skill for it. He’s an aggressive guy. We want him to play downhill.
“How do you not love playing with a guy like that wants to get you the ball, make sure it’s delivered on time, on target? That becomes contagious.”
Erik Spoelstra on Davion Mitchell’s playmaking:
“We love it because he has a great heart that he just wants to set other people up to score. And you need guys like that. He has a great skill for it. He’s an aggressive guy. We want him to play downhill.
“How do you not love… pic.twitter.com/3kUwJdstc2
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) October 29, 2025
Davion Mitchell’s playmaking has been a huge part of the Heat’s success offensively:
While the Heat have averaged a league-best 131.5 points per game with the third-best offensive rating, Mitchell has spearheaded the Heat’s up-tempo attack in more ways than one.
Mitchell, 27, is averaging 8.8 points with a team-best 8.3 assists — to just 1.5 turnovers — in 27.3 minutes per game. His shooting efficiency hasn’t been up to par, but he’s more than made up for it with his dime-dropping and point-of-attack defense.
“I feel like [Davion Mitchell] can be the one our team averaging double-digit assists,” Adebayo said after Tuesday’s win. “He gets in the paint, he’s making the right reads, he knows when to be aggressive when he has an advantage. And you need somebody like that.”
One of the many beauties of its early season success offensively has been its ball movement. It is No. 7 in assists per 100 possessions, No. 9 in assist percentage and No. 8 in assist-to-turnover rate.
Not only has Mitchell consistently generated paint touches (leading to layups, kick outs), but he’s spraying the ball to open cutters and executing hit-ahead passes. He’s aggressive, though not reckless, with his passing — even though he’s prone to firing 100 MPH fastballs.
As time’s gone on, Mitchell’s looked more comfortable reading multiple levels of defenders and making the right reads. His quick burst has always been there, but his decision-making is leaps and bounds better than it was before he entered the NBA.
The Heat offense hopes to carry its strong start over to Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 p.m. EST.
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