Despite having an injury-plagued rotation, the Miami Heat are having a solid season thus far. The team entered the season as one of the most questionable teams in the Eastern Conference. Tyler Herro has been absent since the preseason after undergoing ankle surgery. However, it seems his approaching return to the court will be coming at a time where the Heat are competitive in the East.
Longtime writer John Schuhmann released his power rankings for NBA.com. Last week, the Heat were ranked at No. 12. Heading into this week, they have slightly dropped to No. 13.
“Bam Adebayo has now missed the last five games and, unsurprisingly, the Heat’s defense has suffered,” the article wrote. “Miami ranked fifth defensively a week ago, but allowed 126.3 points per 100 possessions over the three games against Cleveland and New York. The opponents didn’t shoot remarkably better last week, but they committed just 31 total turnovers (9.6 per 100 possessions) over the three games and retained almost 40% of their misses. Losing the possession game is nothing new for the Heat, who’ve averaged 6.2 fewer shooting opportunities (field goal attempts or trips to the line) than their opponents. That’s the league’s second-worst discrepancy, with the Heat having had fewer opportunities than their opponents in 11 of their 13 (including each of their last nine) games.”
Despite the absences of Herro and Adebayo, the Heat are getting strong efforts from other veterans in the rotation along with some of the younger guys.
“They overcame a huge discrepancy in their first of two games against the Cavs, an overtime victory in which Nikola Jović fed Andrew Wiggins on the game-winning lob," the article added. "Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 11 of the Heat’s 25 clutch points, with huge isolation buckets for the tie in regulation and for a three-point lead late in overtime. Jaquez has averaged 12.3 isolations per 100 possessions, 13th most in the league and up from 4.6 per 100 over his first two seasons.”
Jaquez's resurgence as a legitimate scorer in the rotation follows a relatively disappointing sophomore season after an electric rookie campaign. Andrew Wiggins has been applauded for his strong season thus far and offseason acquisition Norman Powell is receiving All-Star caliber love from the Heat faithful. The backcourt scoring has improved drastically compared to last season.
The Heat play four games this week, hosting the Knicks and Warriors to begin the week before traveling to Chicago for NBA Cup group play. They conclude the week in Philadelphia on Sun.