The Miami Heat are breaking the mold in their quest for success

In the era of super-teams and All-Stars joining forces to compete, the Miami Heat are demonstrating an alternate way of striving for success.

The Miami Heat walked off the floor after their Dec. 27 home contest against the lowly Brooklyn Nets a deflated team. A humiliating 111-87 loss in which they trailed by as much as 38 points in the third period was certainly far from indicative of a franchise that prides itself on its self-proclaimed “Heat Culture.”

Following this lethargic performance, head coach Erik Spoelstra commented on the state of the team:

"“This is an extremely challenging team to figure out….We will keep on fighting and digging until we figure it out, I can guarantee you that….We all see the same thing, it’s tough to recognize the same team from the previous game….we have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality to us that’s extremely perplexing. Sometimes we compete at an extremely high level, you can see it, you can feel it, and we have these games that are unexplainable.”"

The offset of this game was that the Heat had compiled a 8-9 record at home, and was also the third occasion for the month of December that the team had trailed by at least 24 points during a game at home. Furthermore, this followed up back-to-back games on the road to conclude November in which the Heat trailed by at least 30 points while suffering humiliating defeats.

In between these poor performances, the Heat also managed to compile a dominant 25-point away victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, while also upsetting the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics on the road for a pulsating one-point win.

So when the Heat put in yet another baffling performance at home against the Nets, there was little wonder why coach Spoelstra was somewhat in a state of shock. Since then, the Heat have compiled a 10-4 record to currently place fourth in the Eastern Conference record with a 28-21 record.

So what’s changed?

Defense

At the conclusion of the Nets game, the Heat ranked an uncharacteristic 14th in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 104.6. Following up from their barnstorming 30-11 record to complete last season, the Heat were clearly underwhelming out of the blocks this season. While they allowed 110 or more points in a game on eight occasions during that 30-11 stretch, this had already occurred on 11 occasions over the first 35 games of this season, including the Nets game.

In the ensuing 14 games since this humiliation at home, the Heat have ranked fifth in defensive rating at 103.7. During this recent stretch, the Heat’s largest loss was a nine-point defeat against the 35-13 Houston Rockets, a game which wasn’t decided until the final moments. While they were surprisingly unimpressive to commence the season at home, the Heat have won five out of six at home during this recent span, the only loss was a one-point defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.

Lineups

This is where the Heat have separated themselves from the rest of the league.

Since Dec. 30, there have been 29 different five-man lineups featured throughout the league that have played at least 74 total minutes. Here are the top three in regards to net rating:

1. Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Tyus Jones, Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins (MIN): 36.1
2. Steven Adams, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, Andre Roberson, Russell Westbrook (OKC): 26.1
3. Bam Adebayo, Wayne Ellington, Kelly Olynyk, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow (MIA): 25.3

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/957810541333962752

The first thing that jumps off the page is the discrepancy of starters. Whereas the Heat have just one regular starter in Richardson in their lineup, the other two listed feature no players coming off the bench.

Over this recent stretch, it’s been this immense presence from the bench that has helped propel the Heat up the standings.

Since Dec. 30, here are the top five players on the Heat roster as it pertains to net rating:

1. Bam Adebayo: 6.1
2. Wayne Ellington 5.0
3. Tyler Johnson 3.5
4. Kelly Olynyk 3.3
5. Josh Richardson 1.8

For a rookie, Adebayo’s contributions have been outstanding. During this period, Adebayo has averaged 6.8 minutes per fourth quarter, a number larger than starter Hassan Whiteside at 5.5. Furthermore, Adebayo has been a +29 during this time while on the floor, compared to Whiteside’s return of -35 — the worst on the roster.

Ellington has made substantial contributions, clearly making the most of the season-ending ankle injury suffered by shooting guard Dion Waiters. Averaging 23.1 minutes per game over his first 35 games, Ellington has averaged 33.7 minutes per game during this recent stretch, the third-highest on the team. Over this 14-game span, Ellington is ranked third in the league with 53 made 3-pointers, and is now fourth overall for the season, behind only James Harden, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.

For his part, Olynyk has been a real X-factor, with his ability to switch between the 4- and 5-spots providing a real point of difference, particularly on the offensive end of the floor. Posting a net rating average of 10.4 during the fourth quarters of this recent stretch, Olynyk’s ability to play both spots in the frontcourt has made playing Whiteside somewhat unnecessary during the stretch run of many games.

Never was the proficiency of the Heat bench more on display than during the team’s latest win, a 95-91 triumph over the Charlotte Hornets. The following tweet from Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald succinctly sums up this fact:

Notably, the difference best and worst lineups in terms of net rating was remarkable:

• Adebayo-Ellington-Olynyk-Richardson-Winslow: 66.5 (11 minutes)
• Goran Dragic–James Johnson-Tyler Johnson-Richardson-Whiteside: -64.1 (11 minutes)

While the starting lineup of the Heat has been solid overall this season, few teams throughout the league can lay claim to what the Heat have created with the formulation of their roster. It’s a collection of versatile, switchable players who are able to step into a variety off roles on a given night.

As coach Spoelstra’s stated when concluding his press conference following the loss to the Nets by stating:

"“Our approach tomorrow has to feel different, it has to BE different.”"

Next: NBA Rookie of the Year Ladder - Week 16

While their approach is for the most part the same, the results following that debacle have certainly been different.