![\"Nikola](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759564998_32_Screenshot-10-3-1.05PM-1024x683.jpg\")
(Mandatory Credit: Stacy Revere\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n(Mandatory Credit: Stacy Revere\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Miami Heat head into the 2025-26 season seeking a new identity following the departure of Jimmy Butler. They finished in the bottom-third in offense for the third-straight year and tied their worst record (37-45) since the infamous Big 3 split up.<\/p>\n
Miami Heat guard Nikola Jovic, who inked a four-year extension with the Heat earlier this week, offered a solution to their offensive struggles on media day: Push the pace. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to play fast,\u201d Jovic told Ethan Skolnick, Alex Toledo and Brady Hawk of Five Reasons Sports in a recent exclusive<\/a> on Five On The Floor. \u201cWe don\u2019t got a guy who\u2019s \u2018OK, give me the ball\u2019 he\u2019s going to score 30 (points) every night. We have [Tyler Herro] who can score; we have [Bam Adebayo]; we have [Norman Powell]; and we have [Andrew Wiggins]. <\/p>\n \u201cHow I look at is, OK, look at (the) Indiana (Pacers). Other than Pascal Siakam, I don\u2019t know who else I would give the ball and be like, \u2018OK, go score 30.\u2019 And the way they play is to run, take advantage of every little thing, catch and go, shoot the ball, easy baskets. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be easier for everybody to play that way. If we start playing slow and trying to manage things, I feel like it\u2019s hard for us to find that rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n Niko Jovic says the Heat offense should play faster like the Pacers:<\/p>\n \u201cWe got to play fast. We don\u2019t have a guy to say give me the ball and go score 30 every night\u2026 look at Indiana\u2026 the way they play is run, catch and go, easy baskets. Try to find your role that way and it\u2019s\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2ckCSMfl99<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Nikola Jovic is right. The Heat must play faster:<\/p>\n Earlier this summer, I wrote that the Heat needed to do a better job pushing pace<\/a> if they wanted to be an efficient offense again.<\/p>\n With Jimmy Butler for five-and-a-half seasons, Butler was excellent at mismatch hunting and exploiting advantages in the halfcourt, where he was able to create easy opportunities for not only himself, but his teammates.<\/p>\n Without Butler, Miami no longer has that dimension.<\/p>\n Erik Spoelstra\u2019s teams have never quite pushed the pace, ranking among the bottom-12 teams in transition frequency in nine of the last 11 seasons \u2014 sporting the fifth-lowest transition frequency from a year ago, according to Cleaning The Glass.<\/p>\n Now, the Heat no longer have a consistent advantage exploiter in the halfcourt. Pushing the pace allows the Heat to have more bites at the apple and apply pressure to backpedaling defenses. <\/p>\n They were No. 6 in shot clock violations (72) and T-3 for the most eight-second violations (4) last season. They also finished among the bottom-eight teams in shots attempted in late shot clock situations (defined by attempts with 4-7s on the shot clock) and very late clock (0-4s) situations.<\/p>\n Game flow will dictate whether or not they\u2019re able to push pace \u2014 but if the Heat\u2019s offense can put pressure on an already-bent defense in clock situations, it will work to their advantage in the long haul.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n To check out our other content, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter\/X\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t