4. Miami Heat off to an impressive start
The Miami Heat finished two games behind the Detroit Pistons for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference last season. Despite that fact, when Jimmy Butler decided he wanted to begin the next chapter of his NBA career in South Beach, the consensus was that he had abandoned the hopes of competing for a championship, an opinion he viewed as disrespectful.
How have the Heat fared at this point? Quite nicely.
Of course, Butler is the unquestioned All-Star of the bunch and after missing a few games at the beginning of the season. He has compiled averages of 18.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds per contest. As has been the case for most of his career, Butler is also getting it done at the other end of the floor, as he leads the team with 2.8 steals per outing.
While Butler’s contributions have played a role in Miami’s early success, there a few other players who deserve a little airtime as well. Undrafted rookie Kendrick Nunn is the team’s second-leading scorer, coming in at 16.8 points per outing and he is shooting 37.6 percent from deep.
Rookie guard Tyler Herro is averaging 14.1 points per contest on 38.9 percent shooting from 3-point range. Third-year big man Bam Adebayo is having the best season of his young career, averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest on 60.3 percent shooting from the field.
Let’s also not forget about Duncan Robinson. Following a ho-hum rookie campaign, the second-year forward is averaging 10.5 points per contest. shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point territory. It should be noted that he converted just 28.6 percent of his attempts from downtown last season.
Simply put, the Heat have several players that can be a problematic matchup for opposing teams. But the offense is only half of the story.
From a defensive standpoint, Miami has the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing just 102.6 points per 100 possessions. They are holding opponents to 44.2 percent shooting from the floor and opposing teams are shooting just 31.3 percent from beyond the arc against them, the lowest percentage in the NBA.
All this has factored into the Heat getting off to an 11-4 start, the third-best record in the east. Should they be able to play at this level throughout the season, they will not be an easy out come playoff time.