Defense remains the key to success for the Miami Heat

In the midst of a shaky start to the season, the Miami Heat have discovered that defense is their greatest ally moving forward.

Now 16 games into their season, the Miami Heat have slowly but surely found what is going to serve them best on a nightly basis – defense.

Without an All-Star on their roster, the Heat are gradually becoming more and more aware that their explosion through the second of half of last season, when they compiled a 30-11 record, is unlikely to be repeated.

Over that span, the Heat ranked eighth in the league in offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) at 109.7, and third in 3-point shooting at 39.0 percent. Through 16 games this season, the Heat are ranked 26th in offensive rating at 100.1, and 23rd in 3-point shooting at 35.2 percent.

However, one aspect they are much more capable of controlling is their level of defense. In addition to their offensive production during their rampage over the second half of last season, their defense maintained an equally high showing. During that span, the Heat ranked third in defensive rating at 103.3, while ranking sixth for opponents points with 101.4 per game.

Over the course of 16 games this season, the Heat rank 14th in defensive rating at 103.9, and eighth in opponent points at 103.1 per game.

But the importance of the defensive end of the floor has been most glaring when viewing the difference between the Heat’s seven wins and eight losses.

Defensive rating

• Wins: 95.4
• Losses: 110.7

Opponent points

• Wins: 95.7
• Losses: 108.9

Following their recent loss at home to the Washington Wizards, head coach Erik Spoelstra pointed to how the team was seemingly headed win the right direction despite falling to the Wizards:

"“We have some of the best basketball, and some of the worst basketball, and it’ll go back and forth countless times during the course of a game. It’s there, its neck up for us to be able to develop that mental resiliency, and to be able to put our best game out there and sustain it for 48 minutes, and that doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything either. But we have these pockets during the course of a game where we’re simply inconsistent during those stretches.”"

Fast forward to the post game of their road win over the Wizards, and Spoelstra’s reaction:

"“The last 24 hours was a step in the right direction, just in terms of our approach to get better, and just in terms of the competitiveness that has to be a staple of this team. We probably won’t be one of those teams that’s scoring 130, 140 when you’re looking at the scores at night, but we can a team that can make it very tough on you defensively, we can be physical, we can win those battles, and execute efficiently, and get the ball where it needs to go, to finds some success. We’re getting there.”"

Spoelstra is certainly on the money when he mentions the Heat are not a team that’s going to rack up enormous scoring numbers on the nightly box scores. In fact, during three of their seven wins thus far, the Heat have failed to crack the 100-point barrier. Overall, the Heat are currently languishing at 27th in the league with 100.3 points per game.

While the team overall are slowly making strides, it’s been the individual defensive output of Dion Waiters that’s certainly been the most evident. Prior to his two-game break recently due to the birth of his daughter, Waiters had a defensive rating of 110.4, at the time the worst on the team.

In the six games since his return, Waiters has returned a defensive rating of 92.6.  Not only did this rank best on the team during this stretch, it was the best mark in the league among all players who have averaged at least 30 minutes per game. So when Spoelstra talks about mental resiliency, and sustaining the pressure for 48 minutes, he need not look further than Waiters’ recent performances as an example the rest of the team can follow.

Next: 2017-18 Week 5 NBA Power Rankings

With a pair of a critical home game against the Boston Celtics coming up, the entire Heat team will need to mentally lock in and heed Spoelstra’s words, as they attempt to bring their season record back above .500.