Getty Bam Adebayo (left) and Kyle Lowry of the Miami Heat
We have heard plenty of chatter from and around star NBA players who have suddenly found themselves unable to post big numbers because of the changes in the way the league is calling games. No longer can offensive players flail their way into defenders and expect to get a friendly whistle from the ref. Officials are not calling those fouls anymore, to the detriment of guys like James Harden and Trae Young.
But conversely, the refs also seem to be letting more contact in general go unwhistled. The average number of free throws in a game has dropped from 43.6 to 39.6. And, according to some, no team has benefited more from that than the Miami Heat.
According to veteran NBA writer Marc Stein, those at the frontlines of league battles say the veteran Heat defense is taking advantage of how things are not being called:
Coaches and players I’ve spoken to were pretty much unanimous in saying that Miami was benefiting from the let-more-go state of NBA officiating more than any other team in the league. The Heat have four of the league’s best (and most rugged) one-on-one defenders — Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker and Lowry — and their forceful switching, along with greater physicality encouraged by referees calling fewer fouls, has been unmissable.
Heat Succeeding With ‘Bully Ball’
Indeed, the Heat have established themselves as a fearsome defensive group this season, tops in the Eastern Conference with a rating of 101.3 points allowed per 100 possessions. The Heat lead the league in field-goal percentage allowed (41.0%) and are fifth in 3-point percentage allowed (31.9%).
Bam Adebayo’s lockdown defense is igniting the Heat!
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They’re doing it with physicality, aided by new additions Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker, two veteran players known equally for their smarts and their toughness.
“I feel like we have a group that prides themselves on getting stops,” star guard Jimmy Butler, himself a bit of a tough guy, said according to the Miami Herald. “Everything is not going to be all good every single night. But when you do got dogs, they’re always going to find a way to win and we got a couple of them that just love to go out there and play bully ball.”
Versatility, Toughness & Smart Carry Heat Defense
The Heat have succeeded because of their versatility and their ability to switch from every position on the floor. Lowry is only 6-feet, but his strength allows him to hold his own against bigger guys in switches. Bam Adebayo, the center, is athletic enough to contain smaller guards when he is switched into a mismatch.
In fact, on Saturday, coach Erik Spoelstra took the unique approach of simply starting his power forward, Tucker, as the primary defender on Jazz star point guard Mike Conley in the second half of the Miami win. That way, when the Jazz attempted to pick-and-roll, Tucker would easily switch onto the bigger man, generally center Rudy Gobert. But that can only work if Spoelstra trusts Tucker’s D enough to allow him to play Conley straight up.
I asked Erik Spoelstra after the game about starting the second half with PJ Tucker on Mike Conley
That move allowed PJ to find himself on Gobert every possession following the switch
Here’s what Spo had to say:
“Yeah, you know, every plan that you have gets tested in a different way,” Spoelstra said. “So, Gobert’s not easy to be able to switch a guy onto him, particularly if it’s a smaller guy. He does a great job of rolling and being big and putting pressure on smaller guys, drawing fouls. That just allowed us to have a bigger body on him.”
It helped. Gobert took only five shots in the game, and though he made four of them, he was limited to eight points. And Utah, despite having one of the best rim-attackers in the game on its side, Donovan Mitchell, took only 12 free throws on the night.