Miami Heat: Small-ball lineup a triumph against the Warriors

While they eventually came up short, the Miami Heat found a new lineup formation that may hold them in good stead moving forward.

Prior to their 120-118 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Miami Heat‘s five-man lineup of Dwyane Wade, Dion Waiters, Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Bam Adebayo had played a grand total of five minutes together for the season.

Therefore, it certainly came as somewhat of a surprise that when coming up against the defending NBA champions on their home floor, this quintet would play the final 6:33 of the contest.

When Winslow subbed out forward James Johnson with 6:33 remaining, the Heat trailed 102-93 and were certainly up against it as it pertained to pulling off an enormous upset win on the Warriors’ home floor. However, the versatility and manner in which this lineup operated to almost pull off the win should certainly be viewed as a substantial positive for the rest of the season.

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Going ultra-small, Winslow acted as the 4-man during this time, with Wade acting as the primary ball-handler. Of course, this left Wade and Richardson on the wings, with Adebayo manning the middle. As a result, here’s how the numbers panned out:

• Offensive rating: 178.6
• Net rating: +40.1
• 25 points, 60 percent shooting, 4-of-8 from 3-point range
• +7
• One turnover

Richardson managed to maintain his amazing hot shooting, shooting 4-for-4 during this time as part of his career-high 37 points. Nailing 8-of-11 from long range, Richardson was also a hound defensively, and was simply at the absolute top of his game.

Adebayo was also enormous during this time, not only for his defensive efforts on the interior but also with his dribble hand-offs, in which he accumulated three assists during this time. For the second time in three nights, Adebayo was chosen ahead of starting center Hassan Whiteside to finish the game. However, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, with Adebayo averaging more minutes in the fourth quarter in each of his two seasons with the Heat.

In addition to being highly critical of the officiating following the game, head coach Erik Spoelstra also noted:

"“We’ve got to find a way to close these games.”"

Some particularly exciting news from the game was the performance of Waiters. Starting for just the second time following a delayed start to the season due to reconstructive ankle surgery, Waiters demonstrated why can be a real of point of difference. Playing a team-high 41 minutes, he posted 24 points and six triples, many of which were heavily contested.

Following the game, coach Spoelstra explained that there should be even more to come from Waiters in the new few weeks:

"“Once he gets in better rhythm, better shape….he’ll have that ability to get to the rim more often.”"

Overall, the fact that this finishing lineup consisted of the emerging trio of Winslow, Richardson and Adebayo is perhaps the most encouraging aspect of all. Performing at such an elite level against the absolute best of the best should be incredibly gratifying for the Heat coaching staff, and moving forward they will have the utmost confidence to send out their youngest talent in the most pivotal moments of the game.