Stimulating: The Heat’s Structural Approaches that Lead to a Victory Over the Pacers and Takeaways

 

On Thursday night, the Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers, 142-132. Who knew they could play so quickly?

MIAMI — Here are three things we learned about the Miami Heat from their 142-132 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Kaseya Center.

1 They can play with speed… kind of.

The Heat and Pacers entered Thursday night’s game on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style. Indiana, owners of the league’s fastest pace this season; and Miami, fourth-slowest in the category. It was fair to assume that whichever team’s style took hold would have the advantage.

“They’re not an easy team to defend,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

This was the case for most of the game. The Pacers got out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter and did not trail for more than three quarters of play. But the Heat found their footing and cut the deficit to three entering the fourth quarter.

A big reason for the comeback was slowing the game down between possessions. Jimmy Butler in the third quarter scored 16 points and earned 10 foul shots. Butler was a wide receiver sprinting down the court, establishing position near the rim and sealing off his defender before catching a pass from a teammate.

While the game with the clock running was played at a fast tempo, the Heat established their style when the clock was stopped by continually getting to the paint and drawing fouls. That three different Pacers fouled out in this game says a lot about Miami’s physicality.

Thursday’s game was the fastest-paced game the Heat have played all season, featuring 106.5 possessions. (Only 18 other games across the league this season were played faster.)

“I do like it because it’s free-form basketball,” Butler said. “You got to make so many reads on the fly and that’s kinda what today’s game is like anyways. I think we gotta be able to win if it’s a half-court game, calling plays, or if we’re playing up and down in transition.

“It shows we are capable of playing like that, but it’s definitely not our style of basketball,” he continued. “But a win is a win, so I guess we gotta start playing a little bit faster.”

The Heat ended up scoring a season-high, including 78 points in the second half. Butler finished with 36 points and the Heat got double-digit scoring nights from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (24), Josh Richardson (19), Duncan Robinson (16), Kyle Lowry (15) and Caleb Martin (14).

“They play at a crazy fast pace, they shoot a lot of shots. They speed you up,” Richardson said. “As the game went on, we just kind of started wearing on them a little bit and started trying to slow it down, execute, get the ball where it needs to get.”

2. Jaime Jaquez Jr. is Jimmy Butler Lite

Butler took his normal fourth-quarter break after bringing the Heat back into the game in the third quarter. Those few minutes proved decisive in the game.

It was an opportunity for the Pacers to staunch the bleeding and go on their own run to seal the game. Instead, Jaquez came in and replicated what had worked for Butler. The Heat took their first lead of the game as Jaquez scored 10 points in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter.

Forty-two seconds into the final frame, Jaquez drove past Indiana’s defense for a layup. Then Richardson and Martin found him cutting behind the defense for back-to-back scores. Then a turnaround jumper and a pair of free throws to put the Heat up five with 7:52 to go. At that point, Butler re-entered the game and the Heat did not look back.

“Both those guys process pretty quickly then we’re able to get some mileage and some open looks from their post-ups or isos,” Spoelstra said of the similarities between Butler and Jaquez. “And that’s super important when you’re playing a team like this.”

3. The ongoing hip injury of Bam Adebayo is a concern.

Bam Adebayo missed a turnaround jumper midway through the second quarter and then labored his way back on defense. He was subbed out for Butler seconds later and proceeded to the locker room. After missing four of five shots in five minutes, he did not return to the game.

Adebayo’s left hip, which had already kept him out of three games this season, was ailing him again. Adebayo was scheduled to return in the second half after having his hip addressed at halftime, but Spoelstra intervened. He summoned Adebayo to his office and informed him that he was done for the night.

“It’s November,” Spoelstra said to Adebayo, “and I’m not going to put you back in the second half.” I’m taking this decision away from you.”

Adebayo has appeared on the injury report on occasion with a left hip contusion. It bothered him late in last week’s game in New York, so he missed the game the next night in Brooklyn. It’s unclear whether Adebayo will be forced to miss Saturday’s rematch against the Pacers.

“It’s the same deal so it’s not, thankfully, something serious,” Spoelstra said in an interview. “But when you play competitive NBA basketball, you get hit, you jump, you twist, you do all that stuff.” He heals quickly, so we’ll keep treating him and see where we end up.”