Miami Heat: Keys To Staving Off Elimination

Minimize The Biyombo Effect

In the first round series against the Indiana Pacers, Bismack Biyombo scored in double digits just once and never played more than 24 minutes in any of those seven games. This was understandable as Jonas Valanciunas was playing extremely well, leading the Raptors’ inside attack with 18.3 points and 12.6 rebounds per contest.

But once Valanciunas was ruled out for the rest of the Heat series following an ankle injury he sustained in Game 3, head coach Dwane Casey turned to Biyombo to help fill the void in the middle. In Game 4, Biyombo posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting.

He followed that up with another solid performance in Game 5, scoring 10 points to go along with six rebounds and four blocked shots, including this emphatic rejection on Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

Although Biyombo has played well over the last two outings, his contributions go beyond his scoring and rebounding. For instance, the Heat shot just 6-for-15 from close range.

Along with that, Miami converted just 36 percent of its attempts at the rim and Biyombo’s presence in the paint was a big reason for that.

If Miami has any hopes of staving off elimination, the team will need to collectively find a way to limit Biyombo’s impact.

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