The Miami Heat have performed pretty well so far this season, and although they don't have many superstars in their squad, their record has been among the best in the East. However, against the old enemy Dallas Lone Ranger, the Heat's winning streak was terminated by the other side, from this game, the Heat's problems appeared more on the offensive end, just relying on a few main players to break through, and when the bayonet was red in the playoffs, I am afraid that it will encounter more tests.
Of course, the Heat still has a good place to do, such as the Lone Ranger since sending away Kristaps Porzingis, the inside line has been in a complete vacuum, so the Heat's strategy is very clear, that is, to continue to cause kills under the basket. So we can find that the Core Of the Heat Jimmy Butler relied on hard chisels and free throws to shoot 29 points and grab 10 rebounds, while the team's center Bam Adebayo also contributed a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
On the other hand, the Heat are very targeted for the defense of lone ranger star Luka Doncic, who is quite uncomfortable throughout the game, the Heat frequently pinch Doncic, when he has a hard time entering the box, the Heat's assistant defense is also in place immediately, this Doncic's performance is obviously a bit abnormal. The Heat naturally ran a big risk, that is, the other players of the Lone Rangers would get a lot of empty shooting opportunities, and the three points of Maxi Kleber, Davidson Bertans and Fanny Smith were like rain, catching the Heat off guard.
Looking back at this game, the Heat still have some obvious shortcomings. For example, with the exception of Jimmy Butler and Adebayor, which have already been mentioned, none of the Heat have scored 15+ points. As the third-in-command Kyle Lowry is naturally to blame, the offseason Heat gave him a fat contract, but the former All-Star point guard did decline significantly compared with the peak. So far this season, Kyle Lowry has only averaged 12.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 8 assists per game, which is not particularly bad, but the Heat and fans clearly expect more than that. Take this game, Lowry is very Buddhist, the whole game only got 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, the performance is not as good as the other side's second round of show Brunson, which is certainly not reasonable.
In addition, the Heat defense is strong, but this will obviously have side effects, because the emphasis on confrontation and defense, the physical consumption of their own players will be very large, and the shooting rate on the offensive end will inevitably be affected. So the Heat's two starting PJ Tucker and Duncan Robinson did not score in double figures, and the two combined 12 shots and only shot four goals. Among them, Duncan Robinson has been in serious shape this season since he completed the contract extension with the Heat last summer, and Duncan Robinson only scored 5 points against the Lone Ranger, which has become his routine operation.
Originally, the Heat were in such good shape this season, and there was always someone on the bench who could come forward, which also had a very big relationship. However, against the Lone Ranger, several outside players on the bench were all dumbfounded, and Vincent shot only 1 of 9, and all 7 shots outside the three-point line were deflected, and he only had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Strus simply shot 1-of-4 and had only 4 points and 1 rebound. The only one on the bench who made a positive contribution was probably Yurt Ceven, who had 11 points and 8 rebounds, but he was an inside player, suspected of abuse against the empty lone ranger under the basket, and really encountered a strong opponent, and could play a few percent of the strength, which is really difficult to say.
Finally, the Heat's frontcourt lineup depth is seriously insufficient, and it can be found that against the Lone Rangers, in addition to Jurt Cevennes, the Heat's other bench players are from the guard, and the height on the court seems to be a bit of a loss. On the one hand, the Heat's own lineup is not neat, and many players, including Markieff Morris, Dwyane D'Edmund and Caleb Martin, have not been able to play. And the trade deadline of all the strong and powerful are recruiting, but the Heat choose to stay still, the advantage is to retain the main lineup framework, no longer need to spend time to run in and adapt, bear the risk of destroying the chemical reaction and tacit understanding, but at the same time also missed the best opportunity to upgrade the lineup.
After all, the strength gap between the teams in the league is now very large, especially in the East. So we can find that as of a few days ago, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers co-defended and aimed to solve the team's current predicament. The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers and defending champion Milwaukee Bucks have all been active and have effectively enhanced the lineup. In this case, the operation of the Heat management is somewhat conservative, and a battle with the Lone Ranger is a complete exposure of the Heat's problems. There are only two paths left in front of them, either to bet on the free market, expect the powerful veterans to buy out, and then persuade them to join. Otherwise, we can only continue to dig for potential inside, hoping that the chemistry in the team can be better and the players can continue to improve, but the difficulty is obviously imaginable.