Miami Heat: The dynamic resurgence of Kendrick Nunn

Having struggled mightily leading up to the All-Star break, the return to form of Kendrick Nunn has been a tremendous boost for the Miami Heat.

After capturing his third straight Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award in January, things were going quite swimmingly for Kendrick Nunn.

In addition to the Miami Heat becoming one of the genuine surprise stories of the season, Nunn’s transformation from an undrafted G Leaguer for the Santa Cruz Warriors to one of the top-performing rookies of the season has been remarkable.

But the combination of a nagging Achilles injury and the overall grind of a debut NBA season meant Nunn’s production dropped off markedly leading into the recent All-Star break.

Over a six-game span, which directly followed a three-game absence due to the Achilles, Nunn averaged just 9.5 points and 3.2 assists in 26.6 minutes per game while shooting at an anemic 29.5 percent clip from the field. This, after averaging 16.2 points and 3.5 assists in 30.6 minutes per contest through the opening 44 games of the season.

But with the All-Star break arriving at the perfect time, Nunn was presented the chance to reset both his mind and body for the rigors of the business end of the season. It’s fair to say this break did wonders, with Nunn averaging 20.0 points and 4.0 assists in 30.1 minutes per game in the six games since.

Most notably, his 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 45.9 percent clip on 6.2 attempts per game has made an enormous difference to his overall production.

In his customary post-game press conference after their latest win over the Brooklyn Nets, their second straight victory having lost seven of their previous nine, head coach Erik Spoelstra detailed the importance of Nunn’s role within the team per FOX Sports Florida & Sun:

"“His scoring his meant a lot to us, even tonight the way they defend our perimeter players had to make a lot of plays. And he had a lot of those pull-up jumpers that their defense gives you, and if you don’t have the right type of guys they can make you pay for that….Kendrick has given us a lot of scoring in these random situations, he’s fearless, he can get his own shot, he has the 3-point range but he can also get to the rim.”"

In particular, it has been the pull-up jumper that Spoelstra alluded to that has been a huge reason for Nunn’s recent resurgence. Here’s a comparison of how Nunn performed before the All-Star break, and in his six games since:

Shooting 5-19 feet

7 games, Feb. 1-12: 9-of-34 (26.5 percent)

6 games, Feb. 20-29: 16-of-24 (66.7 percent)

Breaking these numbers down further, Nunn has been a perfect 6-of-6 from between 5-9 feet of the rim over the past six games, having gone 1-of-5 during his slump. This in-between game Nunn possesses, which Spoelstra mentioned in his comments, is a very valuable tool for the Heat, with his ability to finish in a variety of ways if a possession breaks down.

Given how he has bounced back from some adversity, this is certainly a great sign for both player and team. And with Kendrick Nun having already broken the Miami Heat rookie record for 3-pointers made, the sky is the limit in regards to his performance for the rest of this season and beyond.