The Miami HEAT host the Indiana Pacers Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Get your tickets now! The HEAT defeated the Pacers 112-108 in their last meeting
on Oct. 21. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM. Television coverage on FOX Sports Sun
begins at 4:30 PM. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: What did the HEAT do well in earning a quality road win at Washington?
Couper Moorhead: Defense. Defense. Defense. After a rough start to the season on
that end the HEAT have righted the ship over their last eight games or so and
are now the No. 7 defense in the league. On Washington’s own floor the HEAT held
a Top 10 offense to 91.6 points per 100 possessions, and even many of the shots
they did hit were of the contested variety. No, you can’t expect most teams to
miss every three they take in a half, but as long as you’re limiting the good
shots you allow then you’ll live with the variance. There’s still work to be
done when it comes to the offense – the main reason Miami has given up some big
leads – but with the defense at this level it gives them a chance to be in every
game down the stretch. Then, even if the offense isn’t perfect it means you’re a
dribble jumper from Dion Waiters and James Johnson in the final minutes away
from a win. That formula doesn’t work every time, but it’s a foundation that can
take teams a good distance.
Joe Beguiristain: As Coup mentioned above, defense was paramount throughout.
Case in point: John Wall didn’t hit his first shot until 5:25 remaining in the
fourth quarter and finished 3-of-12 from the field. As a whole, Josh Richardson
and Justise Winslow made things very tough on Wall, while Hassan Whiteside
played great help-side defense. Bradley Beal struggled, too, as he shot 9-of-22
thanks to Dion Waiters hounding him for most of the contest.
While Washington stormed back in the fourth quarter, Whiteside and James Johnson
responded with 17 points combined on 7-of-9 shooting in the period. Waiters also
nailed two big 3-pointers down the stretch to keep Miami ahead.
When it was all said and done, the HEAT held the Wizards to a season-low 88
points on a paltry 38.1 percent shooting. That’d be impressive against any team,
but keep in mind that Washington was the fifth-most efficient offense heading
into the night.
2: What did we learn from the last matchup with the Pacers?
Couper: The same thing most of the league has learned, which is that Indiana
might be one of the better offenses around. The HEAT had a 21-point lead in the
second half of that game but Indiana scored 58 after the break and 32 in the
fourth before Miami escaped with a narrow victory. The Pacers play fast, they
spread the floor and Myles Turner will be healthy for this one after missing the
first matchup, but the real surprise was and has been Victor Oladipo. It took
him 23 shots to do so, but Oladipo scored 28 last time out acting largely as the
primary playmaker down the stretch. The Pacers have given him the opportunity
and he’s run with it.
Note that starter Bojan Bogdanovic only played 21 minutes in that contest as
Nate McMillan decided to match up small playing both Darren Collison and Cory
Joseph at the same time. And even without Turner, Domantas Sabonis proved to be
a very adept center, managing the pick-and-roll extremely well.
Much of Indiana’s early success, however, has been due to 40 percent three-point
shooting as a team. Chances are that will come down eventually, but the most
important thing to note is that even if the Pacers are shooting well, Miami
limits three-point attempts in general and Indiana took only 19 last game.
Joe: We learned that the Pacers should not be taken lightly by any means. Even
without one of its best players in Myles Turner, Indiana gave Miami some
problems in the second half of that last matchup. While Victor Oladpio did his
usual damage from the perimeter, Domantas Sabonis turned heads and Al Jefferson
was up to his old tricks in the post.
Even though Jefferson hasn’t played all that much recently with Turner back from
injury, Sabonis has been quite impressive coming off the bench. In fact, the
21-year-old is averaging 13.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on
56.8 percent shooting in his last five in a reserve role. Over the course of the
season, Sabonis has averaged 1.16 points per possession as the P&R roll man.
Thanks to his sharp play offensively, along with the backcourt duo of Oladipo
and Darren Collison, the Pacers have won three of four and stand at 8-8 on the
year.
3: How might the HEAT be able to attack Indiana on the offensive end?
Couper: Get to the rim. Only the Lakers allow more shots at the rim and with
Miami being one of the most drive-heavy teams in the league this game could come
down to how well the HEAT are able to finish on those drives. Now, some of those
numbers are skewed a bit due to Turner missing a handful of games with a
concussion, but Indiana is still allowing about 30 shots at the rim (among the
ten most) since his return so this should be a clear area of attack.
Joe: For as good as Indiana is offensively, the team has struggled on the
defensive end for most of the season. As Coup mentioned above, the Pacers have
been pretty vulnerable at the rim and in the paint. That said, they don’t give
up that many corner threes, so if the shot at the rim isn’t there for Miami,
wing-threes and above-the-break threes (which opposing teams are converting at a
37.6 percent rate against Indiana) should be the next-best option.
Highlights:
Oct. 21 – Pacers at HEAT
March 12 – HEAT at Pacers
Game Notes:
Efficiencies (Rank):
Player: James Johnson
Player: Kelly Olynyk
Player: Josh Richardson
Player: Dion Waiters
Player: Hassan Whiteside
Player: Justise Winslow
Media Content: http://www.nba.com/heat/preview-indmia-171119
Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Miami Heat, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Josh
Richardson, Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside, Justise Winslow, Miami Heat
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Taxonomy: Game Preview
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