In the last 10 games, the Miami Heat’s offense seems to have recovered. It is a hot trend or something that could spark this team into the playoffs?
Considering how deep the Eastern Conference has been this season, it’s actually quite surprising how little of an impact the Miami Heat has had this season. With just a couple of weeks heading into the NBA Playoffs, the Heat is not a team that many expect to make any noise.
And considering this is a team that made the NBA Finals in 2020 and that they came within one game of doing so against last season, the fact that the Heat may be backing into the postseason this year is quite strange.
But what has arguably been even stranger is the reason why the Heat has fallen flat on its face this season. It’s not because of injuries. Nor because of losing a key player (though you can make the argument that PJ Tucker was important to this team). Instead, the biggest reason why the Heat is sitting in the 7th seed of the Eastern Conference and has emerged as somewhat of an afterthought in the conference is because their 3-point shooting has completely fallen off a cliff.
In the last few seasons, the Heat’s 3-point shooting is a big reason for their success. Last season, the Heat was the best 3-point shooting team in the league. During the 2019-20 season, in which the Heat reached the NBA Finals, they were the second-best shooting team in the league.
Buy or sell the Miami Heat’s recent offensive explosion
However, something shifted unexpectedly this season. Up until the NBA All-Star break, the Heat was the third-worst 3-point shooting team in the league at 33.4 percent. Though, there is perhaps some glimmer of hope.
Over the last six weeks or so, the Heat has begun to show some signs of life when it comes to their shooting. Since the NBA All-Star break, the Heat has improved to 36.9 percent shooting from 3, good enough for 13th in the league.
Taking it a step further, over the team’s last 10 games, in which the team has gone 7-3, the Heat is shooting 39.3 percent shooting from deep. That ranks fifth in the league over that stretch. And as you would expect, their offense has also been kicked into a new gear.
Pre-All-Star break, the Heat had the 26th-ranked offensive rating in the league. Post-All-Star break, the Heat has improved to 16th in the league in offensive rating. In the last 10 games, the Heat has, as you would expect, risen to fourth in the league in offensive rating.
The Heat’s recent offensive surge has the Heat on the doorstep of the sixth seed in the East. With just a couple of weeks remaining in the season, it remains to be seen whether this is just a hot streak for the Heat or if in fact, the team has found something to help them catapult themselves into the postseason.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the Heat closes the season. In theory, the Heat should be better than they’ve been this season. Perhaps this newfound hot streak is something that could help Miami end this season on a high note. Or maybe it is just a hot streak.