Getty Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson reacts to a foul call during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since the moment he started getting consistent playing time, Miami Heat wing Duncan Robinson has been one of the NBA‘s best three-point snipers. Over the last four seasons, only 10 players have knocked down more triples than Robinson. Among those who hit 500 or more, only Stephen Curry and Joe Harris topped his conversion rate of 41.4%.
This season, though, the Michigan product has been pretty pedestrian from deep.
Through 12 games in 2021-22, Robinson is connecting on just 31.2% of his three-point shots. He has been especially bad in Miami’s last two games — both of which were losses — missing 19 of his 24 attempts.
For a player who has taken 86.6% of his shots from behind the arc over his career, that’s a major problem. However, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t appear to be overly concerned with the recent slumpage.
Spoelstra Is Expecting a Turnaround
After the Heat’s latest setback against the LA Clippers, Spoelstra was asked for his thoughts on Robinson’s rough patch (particularly in light of his past success). As the coach sees it, slumps are just part of the game and players must do their best to remain level-headed and keep plugging away until they pass.
“Look, it’s a tough league so, you know, more often than not you have to manage disappointment of not playing up to whatever standards you may have,” Spoelstra said. “That’s not exclusive to Duncan. That’s virtually every single player in this league. You have to manage those emotions, stay the course; he has uncommon persistence.”
While Robinson is scuffling at the moment, Spoelstra isn’t outwardly worried about his ability to get back to his usual high standard as a marksman.
“He’ll break through, I have no doubt about that,” he said. “His teammates, the same way, the staff the same way. You just have to stay the course, at the end of the day, we still put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win even without shooting a great percentage from the three-point line.”
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Heat Drop in B/R Power Rankings
After coming out of the gate white-hot, the Heat have cooled significantly since beating the Dallas Mavericks by 15 points on November 2. However, after a Saturday road boat with the Utah Jazz — the one team Miami has beaten recently — the team will get a bit of a respite with games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans.
And recent losses aside, hoops pundits continue to be high on the Heat. In his latest NBA power rankings for Bleacher Report, Andy Bailey still had the Heat ranked at No. 6 (after being third last week).
“The Miami Heat were without Jimmy Butler on Thursday,” Bailey wrote. “But with a combined 78 points from Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro, they almost managed to beat the Los Angeles Clippers on the road.”
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