The Miami Heat defeated the Detroit Pistons 121-110 on Sunday, powered by Tyler Herro (25) and Bam Adebayo (24).
After three consecutive years in which they had to fight through the SoFi Play-In Tournament to earn a postseason berth, the Miami Heat are playing some of their best basketball of the season as they look to put that streak to rest.
Miami is currently riding a five-game winning streak that includes impressive victories over Houston, Charlotte and the East-leading Detroit Pistons. They’re 7-2 since returning from the All-Star break, fueled by Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and a deep, gritty bench featuring Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Jr. and Dru Smith.
Let’s break down five reasons for Miami’s recent climb up the standings:
1. Captain Bam
On Sunday, Adebayo became just the second player in Heat franchise history to score 10,000 career points, joining Hall of Famer and Miami legend Dwyane Wade. The 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft is averaging 18.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks across 57 appearances. He’s posting career-highs in field goal attempts (15.2), 3-pointers made (1.6) and attempted (5.0), and plus-minus (5.6) while playing 31.5 minutes a night, his lowest since his second season. His 94 made three-pointers matched his long-range output from the previous two seasons combined.
In his last 10 outings, the Newark, New Jersey native has leveled up at both ends of the court. Adebayo has averaged 22.0 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.3 spg and 0.9 bpg in 32.6 mpg while posting four double-doubles and a +14.0 plus-minus rating. He’s scored 20+ in six consecutive contests. He is the only player to rank inside the top five in individual offensive rating (123.2, 2nd), defensive rating (103.4, 5th) and net rating (19.8, 2nd) among 41 qualified players with 10 games and at least 30.0 mpg during this stretch.
2. A hero returns
Before the All-Star break in mid-February, Tyler Herro suited up for just 11 of Miami’s 56 games as he battled multiple injuries. The 2021-22 Sixth Man of the Year has appeared in all nine of their games following the festivities in Los Angeles, and like Bam has been absolutely cooking. During this nine-game span, Herro is the Heat’s leading scorer at 22.2 ppg on sizzling shooting splits of 50.3 / 45.0 / 93.5, while chipping in 4.3 rpg and 4.9 apg in 29.3 mpg. Across four outings in March, those numbers jumped to 26.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.8 apg on 53.7 / 51.7 / 94.7 with a +12.8 plus-minus in 31.6 mpg. Herro’s presence has helped immensely in the absence of Norman Powell, Miami’s leading scorer this season at 22.5 ppg, who’s been out since Feb. 26 due to a groin injury.
3. Fast-paced, high-scoring offense
After finishing 24th in the league in scoring last season (110.6 ppg), Miami’s revamped offense ranks second behind Denver (120.3 ppg) at 120.1 ppg. A major factor in their drastic improvement is the speed at which they play. The Heat are first in pace (104.50), total possessions (6,808) and miles traveled per game (18.60), fourth in points off turnovers (20.2) and third in fast-break points (18.0). They’re first in drives (60.8) and third in drive scoring (32.9 ppg), while still being smart and efficient by finding the open man and not committing too many mistakes, as they rank seventh in assists (28.7), fourth in turnover percentage (13.3) and ninth in turnovers per game (14.0).
Over their last 10 games, those figures look even better. Miami is first in scoring (123.5 ppg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.36), second in offensive rating (120.8), fourth in net rating (11.1), eighth in field goal percentage (47.8), sixth in 3-point percentage (36.7), fourth in assists (29.0), second in turnovers committed (12.3) and are tied for third in plus-minus (+11.2).
4. Defensive versatility
Last season, Miami finished ninth in defensive rating (112.0) and 21st in rebounding (43.4 rpg). However, this season they’re fourth in defensive rating (111.4) and second in total rebounding (47.2) as guys like Adebayo, Ware, Smith, Jaquez Jr. and Andrew Wiggins have been paramount in their turnaround. Since Feb. 11, Bam and Ware have formed a dominant front-court duo. In eight games across 95 minutes, that two-person lineup has an offensive rating of 127.7, a defensive rating of 92.1 and a net rating of 35.6. When looking at their three-person lineups, Adebayo, Smith and Ware have produced a 115.6 OFFRTG, 88.7 DEFRTG, and 27.0 NETRTG, and when you replace Jaquez, Jr. with Smith, they have an OFFRTG of 127.8, a DEFRTG of 98.0 and a NETRTG of 29.9.
5. Talented, deep roster
The Heat have proven time and time again that they are one of the best teams in the NBA at finding and developing talent, and this season has been no different. They have seven players averaging more than 10.0 ppg, and their second unit currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring at 43.6 ppg and third in assists at 11.6 apg. Pelle Larsson and Jaquez Jr. have been key contributors off the bench for Erik Spoelstra, with Jaquez Jr. being one of the leading candidates for Kia Sixth Man of the Year. Across 60 appearances, he’s averaging career-highs with 15.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.6 apg while shooting 50.3% from the field (also career-best). In his last six contests, the UCLA product has stepped up and taken his play to another level. In 29.3 mpg, Jaquez Jr. has averaged 18.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 4.5 apg on tremendous splits of 50.6 / 47.1 / 82.1.
