
5. Heat deliver a top-12 offense
After finishing 20th last season with a 104.5 offensive rating, this may seem like a stretch, particularly when taking into the account that they kicked off the season by posting an anemic 100.8 offensive rating over their first 23 games of the year.
However, as the mechanics and makeup of the team evolved over the course of the season, the Heat’s offensive output rose significantly. In their 24 games post the All-Star break, they registered a 107.7 O-rating, good for 13th in the league. Notably, this featured a 13-game span in which the Heat ranked sixth with an elite 112.8 offensive rating. Not surprisingly, the team posted a 9-4 record over this stretch.
One area that came to forefront after the All-Star break was the assist-to-turnover ratio. Ranking 19th over the course of the season with a 1:58 ratio, this sharpened to 1:89 after the break, ranking fifth overall. Furthermore, over their elite 13-game stretch, the Heat ranked first with a 2:14 ratio.
The @MiamiHEAT score a franchise-record 149 PTS as they outlast the @nuggets in 2OT! #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/XJtDInSYv6
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2018
Over the course of the season, the Heat posted a 9-2 record when they committed 10 turnovers or less. Three of those games occurred during their red-hot 13-game span.
Impressively, the Heat increased their passes per game from 301.2 per game prior to the All-Star break to 312.9 after the break. So not only did the Heat increase their passing rate, they simultaneously decreased their turnover rate.
With the familiarity of the roster now intact, and with multiple players returning to full health come opening night, expect the Heat to push for a top-10 offense in the league in 2018-19.