Don’t look now Heat fans. The Miami Heat have won 4 straight games and back-to-back home wins against potential playoff opponents in the east as they routed Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons 137-117 to bring their overall record to 7-6 on the season.
Just like that Miami is in 4th place in the East after its 0-4 start, and few are talking about how its top guys can’t play together.
The offensive numbers were eye-popping, but it’s starting on the other end.
Here are 5 takeaways from Saturday’s game:
MVP
Giannis Antetokounmpo turned in another mesmerizing performance. He scored 34 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks on the night. He was utterly dominate against a team Miami is likely to see in the playoffs this season.
His chemistry with Heat captain Bam Adebayo is getting better every day. The combination of Bam, Giannis and Klay were cooking tonight with Giannis cutting off ball more than any game this season.
AGGRESSIVE
Bam was aggressive from the opening tip against the small front court that Detroit put out there. Most of his buckets were parked right at the rim. The defense collapsed and Giannis attacked gaps.
He finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. This is the mentality Bam needs to carry every time he touches the floor. Attack.
THE APPROACH
The first time Miami played Detroit this season they played drop coverage. The energy and effort sagged just as much as the drop defender and boy did the Heat pay for it. Cade torched them all night.
Tonight’s game was night and day different. They fought over screens, blitzed pick and rolls and never let the Pistons get comfortable. The Heat came away with a season high in blocks tonight with 14. The gaps closed quickly and the help rotated on time. It was a thing of beauty.
THE ROTATION
Head coach Erik Spoelstra did everything he could to keep his rotations intact. He started Myron Gardener even with Klay Thompson coming back so that Andrew Wiggins could stay comfortable in his role off the bench.
It worked well because Myron provided the energy without needing the ball. Andrew continued to play good basketball off the bench. Wiggins
KLAY
It appears that Klay Thompson is aging backwards. He had another vintage performance cashing in 6 threes on the night. He scored 26 points and had 4 assists. The efficiency is the part. His shooting splits were an outrageous 58.8/54.5 on the night.
You cannot help off Klay in the strong side corner and when teams do, he has been torching them. It is a pick your poison when Giannis gets downhill with Klay in the corner.
He has been solid defensively even when he gets in early foul trouble. That is the value of picking up winning veterans. You can count of them to navigate their circumstances and play winning basketball.
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