Coup's Takeaways: Nikola Jovic, Erik Spoelstra Save The Day In Minnesota With Clutch Play Design
1. This one had all the makings of a classic shorthanded HEAT road victory from the jump, and it finished exactly like one, too.
No Jimmy Butler after he turned his ankle Friday night in Denver, but Jaime Jaquez Jr. returned from a brief absence and Kevin Love – joining the starting lineup along with Haywood Highsmith as Nikola Jovic came off the bench – making his season debut offered reinforcements. Highsmith provided early returns on the defensive end where increased energy and a hearty helping of zone had the Minnesota Timberwolves putting miss after miss onto the scoresheet.
Minnesota opened 9-4 only for the HEAT to answer 9-1, eventually leading 27-20 after the first period as those misses piled up. Even as the HEAT took a double digit early in the second, turning the Wolves over and hitting their own threes as is their winning formula against teams with as much talent as tonight’s opponent, the game felt more even than the results would have indicated. Sure enough Minnesota answered with a 14-2 run of their own, their defense cruising with cutting edge precision, stymied only by a personal 7-0 run from Tyler Herro, undeterred from getting into the paint against lengthy defenders. Miami by one at the break, their offense far more efficient when the shots went up but 11 turnovers costing them chances, with the HEAT 7-of-14 from three and the Wolves at 42 percent shooting overall.
Early Minnesota timeout in the third quarter, coach Chris Finch not happy with a Love touchdown pass to Terry Rozier to put Miami back up six as they went right back to zone out of the pause. Miami went a bit cold after that but he steals kept flowing as the Wolves couldn’t stay in any sort of offensive rhythm, the misses mounting as Highsmith had his arms and legs casting shadows all over the court.
Minnesota answered back with an extended, 15-0 run to take the lead as Bam Adebayo got a quick rest. Adebayo returned soon after, but the Wolves had their vibes right, Donte DiVincenzo hitting consecutive threes to go up eight. Back to zone to generate some stops, Anthony Edwards (22 points on 24 shots) struggling from outside. Wolves by three going into the fourth, Jaquez Jr. grinding away the last possession to barge through contact and finish over the top of Rudy Gobert.
Zone kept buying Miami time, discombobulating even the most steadfast guard in Mike Conley, but the Wolves kept finding just a little more offense, bit by bit, up six with eight to go. Miami (14 steals overall) stayed attached, another clutch game after a Herro three in transition, neither side cleaning up their turnovers, one from Minnesota resulting in a clear-path foul helping, as did Herro (26 points on 15 shots) earning a three-shot foul in the corner to make it a one-point game.
Miami still toggling in and out of zone, staying in the mix with free throws, Rozier tying the game with 30 seconds to go off another Minnesota turnover before an incredible, soaring Jaden McDaniels putback put Miami down two with nine seconds left.
Somehow, Jovic sprung free from a screen at the midcourt line, Minnesota miscommunicating the switch, Jovic and-one to put Miami up one with 7.8 left.
HEAT win on another Conley miss, 95-94, for their first win on the road trip.
2. The main thing you need to know about that final play is that Erik Spoelstra got Minnesota to take the bait.
We’ve seen Spoelstra do this many times over the years but he doesn’t fall into the trap of using only half the court during crucial inbounds plays, even generating free layups for inbounders by overloading the backcourt. Down two, Spoelstra setup all four of his players near midcourt, giving inbounder Duncan Robinson plenty of court to work with, and you can see by the design of the play – dual backscreens, one for Jovic, one for Herro – that the idea was to get someone going downhill on the catch rather than in a static situation. Minnesota could have kept their defense between the man and the basket, letting the HEAT come to them, but by playing so tightly so far from the rim they left themselves highly vulnerable to a single miscommunication. That’s exactly what happened, Jovic finding a free running lane as Rozier screened for him and nobody executed the switch.
It was as good a look as you’ll ever see a team get, down two with under 10 seconds to play, and it all happened – rather, had a chance to happen – because of the way Spoelstra moved his pieces around the board, setting the trap before the ball even left Robinson’s hands. The foul that earned the extra free-throw was just the cherry on top, Jovic (15 points on 11 shots) doing well to finish through contact.
3. Coming into this one Minnesota had only seen zone defense for 11 total possessions, and it showed.
You always have to give Miami credit when the zone is stringing stops together. None of it works without everyone on a string, recovering into gaps whenever a threat presents itself. At the same time, a zone in the modern NBA is often a test of your opponent’s ability to adjust. Against a team like Denver on Friday, Nikola Jokic is the ultimate zone buster with his playmaking ability in traffic, swinging the ball side-to-side before the zone can shift. Minnesota had a much slower, more methodical approach tonight, putting players in the right places – occupying the weak side, flashing playmakers into the middle of the floor – but the lack of quick ball movement allowed Miami’s defenders to load up on the ball. Missing some decent looks at three plays a part, too Minnesota shooting just 13-of-45 from deep overall, but decent looks aren’t always going to get it done, especially when they’re one-pass, not drive-and-kick, inside-out, looks, especially when you’re turning the ball over in between all of them.
Spoelstra will get the credit for that winning play design at the end, but he had already earned the game ball before that with the zone deployment. Miami has been using that coverage for years and they know better than to ride it too long, to let their opponent get used to a different look. Instead, Spoelstra managed his pitch mix perfectly, so many turnover coming from Minnesota having to adjust their approach on the fly, working with a short clock as a result. The zone wins a handful of games for Miami each season and this was most definitely one of them as the Wolves posted an Offensive Rating below 100.