Miami Heat: The good, the bad and the ugly of the opening 20 games

After an uninspiring opening 20 games of the season, here’s an overview of what’s gone right and wrong for the Miami Heat.

After their latest loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was doing his best to retain a positive outlook:

"“This is the NBA. If you expect it just to be easy, you’ve been led down the wrong road. This is not what we would like, but this is when you start to develop some character, when things are not going how you want them to and you feel like you can’t turn it around. So what do you do, you come in the next day and you figure out some solutions.”"

Now sitting at 7-13, the Heat face a serious uphill battle to make any sort of meaningful impact this season.

Although point guard Goran Dragic has already been sidelined for eight games, and other key rotation pieces such as James Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Dion Waiters have also missed extended time, the overall depth and composition of the Heat roster means these kinds of inconveniences should be overcome in a far better fashion than what has transpired.

Following a promising yet unsuccessful postseason run last year, the Heat were hoping that by having virtually the same core of players returning, this continuity would lead to some genuine success this season.

However, with the team currently ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, and with a brutal Western Conference road trip coming up shortly, here’s a basic overview of what’s gone right and wrong thus far.

The Good

The significant rise of Josh Richardson has been an overwhelming bright spot in 2018-19. Now in his fourth season, Richardson has genuinely taken the next step in his game, proving to be one of the more diverse two-way perimeter players in the league.

In 34.9 minutes per game, Richardson has averaged 20.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting at an elite 42.2 percent clip from 3-point range on 6.8 attempts per game.

Such has been his impact, that the Heat have been 16.0 points per 100 possessions better off when Richardson has been on the floor. Another player who has taken a major step forward is swingman Rodney McGruder.

Starting all 20 games, the 27-year-old has posted 12.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 33.6 minutes per game, all numbers easily representing a career high. A restricted free agent at the end of the season, McGruder is providing the Heat front office with an important decision to make this offseason.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1067085575688089601

A further positive thus far has been the invaluable play off the bench from Heat legend Dwyane Wade. Despite being in his 16th and final season, Wade has been excellent in a number of games, where his 15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game place him among the more influential sixth men in the league. Considering their current predicament, the Heat will be hoping that Father Prime can maintain his hot form for as long as possible.

The Bad

As a whole, the Heat been a highly mediocre team this season. Currently, they rank 26th in offensive rating, 20th in net rating, 19th in points per game and dead last in field goal percentage. Individually, while they are the two leading scorers on the roster, Richardson and Goran Dragic have been noticeably inefficient, shooting at a 43.3 and 41.6 percent clip from the field, respectively.

Not only have they been inefficient in shooting the ball, but their ball-handling has been incredibly subpar. Through 20 games, the Heat rank 27th in turnovers at 16.1 per game. After their latest loss to the Hawks in which they committed 20 turnovers, coach Spoelstra addressed the issue:

"“It’s one of the top of the list of the things that have been hurting us and preventing us from having a better record. We addressed it, we’ve worked on it, and it’s just something that’s going to have to get better.”"

In addition to their offensive woes, their work on the defensive end of the floor has not always been up to scratch. Having given up 120 points or more on eight occasions over the course of last season, the Heat have already done so five times this season, not surprisingly coming up short in all five games.

The Ugly

The following tweet from the Miami-based Five Reasons Sports Network basically sums up the overall malaise surrounding the Heat thus far in 2018-19:

With the Charlotte Hornets leading the Southeast Division with a meager 10-10 record, this is clearly not an ideal way to commence the season. Among these games includes two losses to the 5-16 Hawks and two losses to the Hornets, who each failed to make the playoffs last season.

Overall, the Heat are 5-11 against Eastern Conference teams, and have now lost their past six games at home.

So while they have their next three games at home to make amends and to try to get their record closer to .500, immediately following is a six-game Western road trip, where the combination of travel and six games in 10 days clearly present the most challenge aspect of this early part of the season.