Miami Heat: Does Justise Winslow’s recent resurgence change team’s outlook?

 Over the last few weeks, Justise Winslow has been sensational for the Miami Heat, but does it suddenly change the team’s outlook?

Just a few weeks ago, many were quick to call it on Justise Winslow. After all, through the first two months of the season, he still looked like a player that was simply never going to find his comfort level in the NBA.

During the month of October, Winslow averaged eight points and four rebounds on 33 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range. Just a guy. Even though his numbers improved, to a certain extend, during the month of November, they still didn’t suggest anything special.

In November, Winslow posted nine points and five rebounds on 35 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. Again better, but nothing that would prove he’s a key piece to this team’s future. Much less anything that would make sense of the three-year, $39 million extension that he had just signed.

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However, during the month of December, it seems to have all changed. Playing more point guard, which is now his new position and even more so after the injury to Goran Dragic, Winslow has really begun to hit his stride this season.

In December, Winslow is averaging 15 points, six rebounds and four assists per game on 50 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. It’s a small sample size, but you can even see how much more comfortable Winslow is with just his play-style and overall confidence on the floor now.

It’s almost as if he wasn’t as comfortable being forced into playing the small ball power forward position as much as playing more on-ball. Perhaps playing out of position constantly really did have an impact on his offensive game, being forced to play against bigger defenders.

Now that he’s, on most nights, being checked by smaller players, Winslow has been able to be more aggressive and play a more well-rounded, and efficient, offensive game.

Specifically, in the last three games, Winslow is averaging 22 points, six rebounds and six assists. If this trend continues, you’d have to wonder if this changes the outlook for the Miami Heat. For much of this season, it had been bleak. Even more so recently as Josh Richardson has faded after his quick start to the year.

Since Winslow has moved full-time to the point guard position, the Heat has only lost one game – to the Toronto Raptors (by two points). The team is 6-1 in such games, and is 9-4 during the month of December. They’ve crawled back to .500, at 17-17, and is tied for the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

This is still an extremely small sample size, but there’s no question that the Miami Heat have to love what they’ve seen over the last few weeks from Justise Winslow. Whether it changes the team’s outlook remains to be seen, but you can’t help but feel and see a new pep in the team’s step as of late.