Miami was enjoying a nice seven-game win streak until Saturday’s matchup in Chicago where they led by as many as 21, points but were unable to sustain any level of consistency or control after having the big lead. Bam Adebayo was having a stellar first half, scoring 18 points with ease. He was getting any shot he wanted, getting to his spots, setting solid screens, and even setting up his teammates for some easy buckets. However in the second half, it completely changed as he only scored six points which was uncharacteristic. What was even more alarming was he only attempted one shot in the entire fourth quarter. Credit to Chicago for making the adjustments to slow Bam down as they were setting up double teams. Their off guards were playing the pick-n-roll well, taking chances by swiping at passes to cause turnovers before the ball could get back to Bam. Bam was also not exactly looking to score as aggressively as he was in the first half. He was looking more for the dribble handoffs, and he has to get himself involved more in scoring situations because he makes a difference for this team with his scoring.
Going into this week Miami finishes their road trip with four games against the Bulls, Cavs, Knicks and finish it out against the Nets before heading home to start a seven game home stand where they are 4-1 to start the year. The road has been up and down so far this year for the Heat, but what they have to do to start a new win streak is get their three point shooting back up to that 38% mark they were at before this last week. While the Heat were enjoying a good stretch by Jaime Jaquez Jr. last week, they learned as good as this rookie is playing for them, he should not yet get the big assignments of guarding guys like DeRozan when you need one stop. Jaime’s defense has been good, he collects steals, but his isolation coverages are only good for certain situations and going forward closing defensively, Highsmith would be a better option to play in that situation even if he hasn’t been shooting the ball well.
Learning curves will continue for all these guys as they continue developing chemistry and as Spo continues tinkering with the lineups. They have had their first game against the Bulls already and we fully anticipate adjustments to be made and new game plans to be formulated. Their first game this year against Cleveland will be interesting as the Cavs have also been inconsistent to start the season. The length that Cleveland provides is something Miami is going to have to learn to adjust their play style and defensive schemes against. Miami will also see a rematch of last year’s second round matchup against the Knicks who have had a good start to their season. Last year in the regular season the Knicks won three of four against Miami, and it should be a good, competitive battle where both benches will play vital roles in their team’s success in that matchup. Miami will finish their road trip with their third matchup against the Nets. The two teams are quite familiar with each other and will face off one more time, January 15th, but that third matchup will be vital because if you remember last year, the Nets swept the season series against Miami, who later made the playoffs as the 6th seed by one game over Miami as the Heat had to participate in the play-in and ended up falling to the 8th seed. Wins against these Eastern Conference opponents are going to be huge so the Heat must be firing on all cylinders to leave no doubt about where they stand in the East.
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