Miami Heat: Erik Spoelstra a genuine Coach of the Year candidate

Despite suffering from a lengthy injury list, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is once again excelling from the sidelines.

Entering the second night of a back-to-back on the road is a tough challenge for any team. But following a thrilling one-point road win over the Toronto Raptors, this was the task facing the Miami Heat as they set upon defeating the Indiana Pacers. Despite arriving in Indianapolis at approximately 2:30 a.m., and missing a number of key players, the Heat would not be deterred.

As usual, it was head coach Erik Spoelstra leading from the front as the Heat won their sixth consecutive game, and in the process improved their season record to 24-17 for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. With Miami missing key rotation players like Dion Waiters and Justise Winslow to injury and James Johnson to suspension, coming up short in such circumstances would have been understandable.

But Spoelstra used the occasion to again demonstrate why he has been widely considered as one of the sharpest coaching minds in the league for a lengthy period. Despite capturing back-to-back titles with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, most onlookers simply point to the undeniable presence of the Big Three as the primary reason for such success.

Last season, however, was a timely reminder of Spoelstra’s prowess on the sidelines. After starting the season 11-30, the Heat completely transformed themselves, and in the process, steamrolled through the league to compile a 30-11 record to finish the season. Despite narrowly missing out on the playoffs, Spoelstra’s was duly recognized for his efforts in turning the Heat around by finishing second in Coach of the Year voting behind Mike D’Antoni of the Houston Rockets.

One area in which Spoelstra’s coaching has come to the forefront has been during clutch time, defined as any game being within five points with less than five minutes remaining. In 25 games of clutch time, the Heat have produced the third-best winning percentage in the league at 18-7, training only the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.

Furthermore, they have produced the second-best net rating in the league at +26.2, trailing only the Spurs.

Never has this been more prevalent than in the past week, when the Heat produced back-to-back one-point wins over the Utah Jazz and the Raptors. In both instances, Spoelstra has designed a play during a timeout that was executed to perfection, as can be seen in the above Josh Richardson highlight.

In fact, over the past 10 games in which they have compiled an 8-2 record, the Heat have registered an insane net rating of +69.5 in clutch situations, which is simply head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Notably, they are 7-0 over these games.

Another area in which Spoelstra has excelled is simply making the most of the players he has at his disposal. Leading up to their recent contest against the Raptors, the duo of Hassan Whiteside and rookie Bam Adebayo had played just one minute together the entire season.

But due to the untimely ejection of James Johnson with 7:50 remaining in the third term, Spoelstra was required to think on his feet and outside the box as the Heat clung to a 55-52 lead.

Enter the Whiteside-Adebayo partnership, which through the ensuing two games has produced a net rating of +8.8 in 26 minutes, including an ultra-elite defensive rating of 81.9. Furthermore, they have registered a whopping 10 blocks and 32 rebounds during these 26 minutes, while holding their opponents to a 35.3 percent shooting clip from the field.

Following this mini road-trip, the Heat return home for just one game before setting out on new a five-game road trip. With some players set to return in the foreseeable future, it’s going to be interesting to watch in terms of how Spoelstra integrates them back into the rotation. As Spoelstra said recently when commenting on the effectiveness of the James Johnson-Kelly Olynyk pairing in the frontcourt:

"“We become a much more, significantly more versatile team with James Johnson on the court. We already have versatility throughout our roster, but that takes us to a totally different level. And then when you have two guys at the same time, two bigs that can handle, they can shoot, make plays off the dribble, play in the post, there’s not anywhere on the court where you can’t be effective. That just presents some challenges.”"

Next: 2017-18 Week 13 NBA Power Rankings

So while the Whiteside-Adebayo pairing may present a quandary moving forward, it’s nonetheless a good problem to have. Given Spoelstra’s now hefty track record of excellence from the sidelines, all Heat onlookers can be comforted in knowing that they’ll supreme confidence in their main man in charge.