The Heat’s defense has been improving by the game as Erik Spoelstra details their patterns.
While the phrase “Heat Culture” has been said many times by the organization, it is mainly defined by the toughness of the franchise, especially evident on the defensive side of the ball that head coach Erik Spoelstra instills in his teams. As he said before the win over Dallas, Miami is “committed to doing really hard things,” which makes it unable to take a “shortcut.”
“It always ends up with being committed to doing really hard things,” Spoelstra said. “There’s no easy way about it. I don’t think anybody has figured out how to shortcut anything. It’s a mentality, no matter what the scheme is. There’s nothing that can mask just having to take a challenge as a group. You have to get connected with it.”
Erik Spoelstra speaks about the effectiveness of the defense and what he wants to see moving forward.
“It always ends up being committing to doing really hard things…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/SD7z3qmP8Q
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 24, 2024
It was originally a rocky start as through the first eight games, where they had a 3-5 record, they were ranked 19th in the NBA in terms of defensive rating. The work has paid off, as while they are currently 11th in defensive rating regarding the whole association, they have been sixth in the last six contests, making them one of the best units in the league on that side of the ball.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the defensive effort against the Mavericks
In those aforementioned last six games, the team went 4-2, including the win over the Mavericks as the Heat were facing Klay Thompson and the main focal point Kyrie Irving as they were missing superstar Luka Doncic. Spoelstra would speak after the game about the defensive effort and found some aspects to admire but also some to improve on.
“Other than the start, I thought there were some really good efforts,” Spoelstra said. “We made big time efforts. You end up in a one-on-one situation with Kyrie Irving. He’s going to draw a second defender, he’s used to that, drawing a third defender, and then now the ball, you’re in a scramble situation. So many of those situations were created, you know, from his greatness. So I liked the efforts that we’re making.”
“You know, this is a dangerous, explosive offensive team,” Spoelstra continued. “At the end of regulation, you know, we had him in a wheelhouse that was appropriate for us to be able to win on the defensive side, and we’ll just shore up some of these things. You know, the rebounding, still. There were some key rebounds where we could have done that better, but the efforts are starting to get a little bit more consistent.”
Spo on the defensive effort tonight against the Mavericks without Luka Doncic.
“Other than the start, thought there was some really good efforts…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/bhJla0WKpK
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 25, 2024
Heat’s Haywood Highsmith role, plus importance of defensive rebounding
Heat star Haywood Highsmith has been guarding the opponent’s best offensive players, and it continued Sunday as he was primarily guarding Irving. He found early success, so much to the point where Dallas was trying to create plays for Highsmith to switch off of Irving.
Highsmith would find himself in foul trouble and even left the game in the third quarter for “not feeling well,” so Irving would take advantage and finished the game with 27 points and joined P.J. Washington (21) and Naji Marshall (20) to score at least 20. However, the total shooting numbers for the Mavericks were enough to stifle them as they shot 41.9 percent from the field and shot 10 of 40 from beyond the arch.
An aspect Spoelstra and the Heat want to focus on is their defensive rebounding, which was an area of struggle as in the talked about rough start, they were 19th in defensive rebounding percentage, which is the percentage of defensive rebounds available to a team that they record. While that ranks towards the middle or bottom half of the league, they have been significantly better recently in the last six games, ranking as the fourth best in the league with 73.5 percent.
“As you can imagine, it’s been a big point of emphasis,” Spoelstra said on the defensive rebounding. “But it’s been a point of emphasis for a few weeks. We started out the season poorly in that department. I think it was really damaging, not just for your overall defense, but those can be deflating plays. You burn a bunch of calories, you do a bunch of things right and then you give up a second-chance opportunity. We take pride in finishing our defense.”
Heat being disruptive in the last six games
There is no doubt that teams who face the Heat will have to work for their shots as they have been a very disruptive team, even being one of the better units in causing opposing turnovers. After the win over the Mavericks, Miami is ranked as the seventh-highest opponent turnover percentage.
Combining the rebounding metrics with the disruptiveness is great, but it also helps to have players who not just understand what Spoelstra wants to run but also have individual stalwarts. Highsmith was mentioned before, but the Heat’s captain in Bam Adebayo is one of the best defenders in the entire NBA, as some might even go as far as to say that he’s No. 1.
Last season, Adebayo was a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award, which has been a goal for a long time to acquire, as he lost it to Minnesota Timberwolves big-man Rudy Gobert. Still, he has been a cornerstone for the Heat on that side of the ball and will continue to lead them in a positive direction.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra says team has “clarity” in further improving defense
The end goal that has been accomplished in the last eight of nine seasons was that they finish top ten in defensive rating, as that continues to be the gold standard. However, Spoelstra would say that the team has some “clarity” on what needs to be worked on to be consistent on defense.
“There are some things that I do like in terms of our activity,” Spoelstra said. “If we rebounded better earlier on, I would have liked to have seen what those metrics could have looked like. … But we have an idea. There’s some clarity on the big things that we need to take care of and that’s what we’re working on right now.”
At any rate, the Heat are now 7-7 after the win over the Mavericks as they now look to take their two-game winning streak into Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, which will also be a part of NBA Cup Group Play.
