The Miami Heat were in the mud from the jump tonight. After the flurry of guys out, they added Tyler Herro to the mix, as Philly added Joel Embiid back in.

Led by Gabe Vincent, the Heat won this one in the mud, even when things got tough late. And that says a lot.

Anyway, here are five takeaways from this one…

#1: Duncan Robinson figuring things out.

Duncan Robinson has had an interesting season thus far. A struggling overarching theme, while mixing in a good shooting three point game here or there. The difference as of late: he’s figuring out the formula for success. His previous formula used to be the see the ball go in early, then others will pour in. Now, it’s get inside the arc a bit with an improved midrange jumper, handle, and passing vision, then expand out. And yet, that has worked. That led to an early explosion with guys right in his face beyond the arc, finding a clear path to success. The other way he was used that proved to be highly successful was through his screening, specifically on-ball. Constantly spamming Lowry-Robinson pick and rolls is the way to go on a night like this, and they did that repeatedly.

#2: The Marcus Garrett evaluation.

Marcus Garrett got some minutes tonight all of a sudden due to the broad group of guys that were out, leading to quite the evaluation period. He’s known for his hounding defense on the ball, but as we know in this league, it’s a different beast when you make that jump up to the real thing. He was pressing baseline to baseline in a unique way, but there were some bumps throughout as well. As we continually see with young, talented on-ball defenders, off-ball positioning can be a bit shaky early on. We saw that tonight. Staying to his man on the wing instead of splitting the difference with the corner can cost your team open threes, which it did a few times, while other times they got lucky with a miss. This stuff is expected with inexperienced guys like himself, but just something to note as we track as development on that end moving forward.

#3: Omer Yurtseven providing some more clarity on his game.

A trend we saw from Erik Spoelstra early on was that he wanted to stagger PJ Tucker and Dewayne Dedmon out the gate. Why is that? Well, those are your toughest Joel Embiid defenders for the night, so they must handle their own lineups defensively. That also meant Omer Yurtseven would have his minute mirrored with Andre Drummond, which took quite the turn to begin the game. Yurtseven was dominating the matchup with picture perfect post positioning and fantastic touch, but something else stuck out more: his defensive activity. It was a knock on him coming in, but he’s handled himself nicely over this last stretch. He really understands his role in that drop coverage, and his blitzes have been timed perfectly in his minutes most of the time. If that is sustainable, then Miami has something there potentially.

#4: Gabe Vincent continues to be the saving piece for Miami.

This is not the first game that I’ve walked away from saying that Gabe Vincent has saved Miami. Most of the time it’s been his trust in that 2-2-1 press or his sustainability in certain lineups, but tonight, it was the thing we originally expected from him when he first joined the team: three-point shooting. Most of the time I have some schematic things to note when a guy gets hot like this, but this game was an instance of a player just completely coming together throughout a season. His jumper has changed for sure, as he talked about in my conversation with him during training camp, and it’s officially showing. It looks faster than it once was, which is a big deal when chucking up half of your shots off that catch and the other half on the ball. He saved them tonight, and like I said, it wasn’t the first time.

Loading...

#5: Miami needed this.

After talking about a lot of things from this game, this final point must be made: the Miami Heat needed this one. No Jimmy Butler, no Bam Adebayo, no Tyler Herro, no Caleb Martin, and the list is even longer. Yet, they found a way, even on a night that was far from a perfect night from Miami. The Heat just simply did not have these wins last season throughout tough stretches without their best players, and that’s the difference maker. When you can get big games from your inexperienced young guys, previous two-ways, your struggling three-point shooter, and your 35 year old point guard, that’s a major win. Some huge shots from PJ Tucker halfway through the fourth was the biggest moment of the night, further proving his worth in this team’s success so far.

Everything Tradeshows is a one-stop-shop for trade show exhibit rentals and custom exhibit display purchase solutions to companies of all sizes.

Visit them atEverythingTradeShowsorcall 954-791-8882