The Heat got off to a strong start this season behind an innovative up-tempo offense that deemphasizes screens and pick-and-rolls, but the rest of the league is starting to adjust, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). The team suffered its third straight loss Saturday against Sacramento, and coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledged the need to fix some things ahead of Tuesday’s NBA Cup elimination game with Orlando.
“It was not one of our finer games, but we’ll regroup,” Spoelstra said. “I want our guys to get as much rest as possible. We have a practice day (Monday), which is good. I think we do need to get back in the gym and just fine-tune some things and get ready for Tuesday.”
Spoelstra revamped the team’s style of play over the summer, adopting a frenetic attack after ranking near the bottom of the NBA in pace over the last six seasons. They’re still playing at the league’s fastest pace at 105.4 possessions per 48 minutes, according to Chiang, but opponents are finding ways to slow them down. He notes that five of the team’s last seven games have been among the slowest paced of the season.
“We knew this was going to happen,” Norman Powell said. “We kind of surprised everybody with the pace, and now they’re ready for it.”
There’s more from Miami:
- CJ Moore and Fred Katz of The Athletic explore the origins of Spoelstra’s new tactics in a lengthy feature story. Spoelstra was ready to make changes after the Heat were overwhelmed by Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. He met with players and coaches during the offseason and hired a consultant, player development trainer Noah LaRoche, who helped convince the Grizzlies to adopt a similar strategy when he worked for them last year. LaRoche is a strong believer in a Constraints-Led Approach, which emphasizes cutting and quick decisions instead of set plays. “It was definitely an adjustment, but I think it’s an adjustment everybody embraced,” Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “When you have a lot of open space, you don’t really need screens.”
- Terry Rozier will be arraigned later today at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks of ESPN examine how Rozier’s situation affects the Heat’s roster and what recourse they may have regarding last season’s trade that sent a 2027 lottery-protected first-round pick to Charlotte in exchange for Rozier. Sources tell the authors that it’s not clear what would happen if Miami tries to include Rozier’s expiring $26.6MM contract in a trade for salary-matching purposes.
- Kel’el Ware has seen his playing time cut recently because his rim protection has been poor and his effort level has been “less than complete,” according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (subscription required).