Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks Game #57 Notes

Welcome to my game notes. A simple idea where I’ll be sharing my notes from each Heat game that will look at some observations, key points from the game, actions, themes or just focusing on individual possessions that caught my eye — if you have followed me on Twitter, it’s basically my old game threads with some added thoughts and context. It’s to freely go through anything interesting on the court with little to no structure or purpose.

Somehow, the Miami Heat two days later had a completely opposite game against the Atlanta Hawks. In the first matchup, they had a 90.5 ORTG with a 37.2% eFG. So, obviously, they answered that in the second matchup with a 142.4 ORTG and 75.3% eFG%. Per Cleaning the Glass, that eFG% ranking was the difference between the 0th percentile and the 100th. They quite literally had the worst shooting game for all games played by all teams and then the best game.

Let’s go through some of the notes from the games.

Quick side note. I’m experimenting with some of the formats of these notes. The previous notes was too article-like and that wasn’t the point of these notes. So, now it will be going through both offense and defense in a chronological way with “literally” my notes(written out in a way that make sense and some additional context) accompanied by video. Each notes will have time stamps of when it occurred in the game. There will be a compilation of all the notes at the start then any additional clips highlighting the key ones. Let me know what you think of the format

Offense

1st Quarter

11:20 — It’s a Wiggins ISO with the whole side cleared. Good idea to look to get him a switch from Mitchell’s cross-screen, but the defense recovered. Young looking to come over to help one pass away from Mitchell

10:55 — Herro-Adebayo PNR and just like in the previous game, the Hawks are showing hard. That was a great quick reaction from Ware to Adebayo on that touch pass. The offense goes nowhere with Adebayo inside, so Wiggins makes a good decision to relocate to the other side and get an open look

10:20 — Another Herro-Adebayo PNR, this time coming off the handoff with the empty side. This does feel like a pre-determined decision from Herro to go for the lob because Onyeka is reading that perfectly and helps off Ware from the dunker spot and blows up the lob

9:20 — Mitchell coming off a handoff from Ware. He gets a drive and gets right inside the paint. That collapses the defense but then on the kick there is no advantage anywhere. The ball just swung from Adebayo to Wiggins to Ware. Someone had to do something else. That was an open look from Wiggins and even Ware could’ve let that fly. Instead, it flows into a Herro-Ware handoff, it’s another show but then the roll is also taken out because Onyeka is helping off Bam from the corner

8:43 — Mitchell-Adebayo PNR. The whole defense again in the paint is collapsing. That’s the second time it now happened with Mitchell(love the pressure he provides on drives). But I don’t know how much I like that shot taken. Every defender is in the paint. There’s someone open for a good, open look from 3pt rather than a contested floater. Also, on top of just this individual shot, it’s focusing on Adebayo’s habit, in general, of going for that shot, rather than seeing that the defense is all inside and making a kick

8:15 — Herro comes off a pindown into a Ware handoff. Great read on the skip to Adebayo. This is the shot from Adebayo that he has to continue to take with zero hesitation. This look will always be there for him

7:50 — Herro coming off a screen and looks to go for a quick pull up and that immediately draws Young from Mitchell. But the defense recovers well on Mitchell and the advantage is gone. The offense goes down to the late clock and it’s Herro bailing out the possession with his rip-through move

7:23 — Herro with his first 3pt of the game. Looks to set a screen for Mitchell and the defense isn’t keen to switch that. Herro quickly ghosts that and pops for the open 3pt as Daniels looks to recover

6:55 — That 3pt for Herro making him feel himself. Immediately, on the next possession he brings the ball up and pulls up with confidence for another 3pt

6:18 — I loved this from Herro because it was something that stood out in the previous game where he settled for a floater instead. He comes off the screen and reads what Ware is doing well to set him up for the lob.

Another point here is that Niang is defending Ware and is ignoring him. Ware smartly decides to screen Robinson to keep that side occupied(we’ll see why later). But Niang is still prioritising being in the paint.

5:45 — Herro quickly looks to attack but there’s also Daniels sitting in the paint and it didn’t matter that Mitchell relocated to the corner initially. It’s also a questionable shot from Herro on the drive then. That’s challenging two defenders at the rim when there is a kick to Mitchell

5:25 — Ware is being completely ignored by Niang even when the Heat are looking to push pace. Niang is casually sitting in the paint, not bothering to match up with Ware on the perimeter. The defense then is able to fully recover and there’s no early offense. Then, there’s the issue with Onyeka also ignoring Adebayo from the opposite corner. The whole offense gets blown up because Onyeka can cover both Ware and Adebayo

4:54 — This is where Ware coming to set a screen whilst being sagged off comes in handy. Niang isn’t fully on Ware but when he sets a screen for Robinson, you have to step up to take that 3pt shot away. That made Niang overcompensate and had to rush to get back because he already started from further out. That draws two to the ball and Ware gets a good look at the rim thanks to Robinson’s quick read

Also, making a note of Zacharie not realizing he was the one who needed to rotate to Ware on time. That won’t be the last time he doesn’t make the rotation as the low man and it looked like the Heat made sure at times to have him be in the corner because of it

3:46 — Good move by Adebayo to attack baseline then doesn’t stop or settle for a shot, but rather creates the space to get the dunk

1:51 — Wiggins has Young on him and looks to attack him but we also have Niang helping off Anderson and then there’s Ware being helped off Capela

I don’t get playing both Anderson and Ware at the same time at all.

1:36 — Wiggins coming off a handoff into a PNR. He attacks the defense going under well and is able to draw the foul. But again, we have Anderson in the corner as Wiggins comes to curl to the paint and Niang is already sitting in the paint

I do like that we finally have players that have different strengths coming off the same actions. This handoff into a PNR is deadly for either Herro or Robinson to go for a 3pt(sure, they have plenty of reps curling and attacking but that isn’t their main weapon, nor strength). But with Wiggins, it’s the opposite. He will stress the defense by getting downhill.

0:36 — Perfect Highsmith possession. THIS is exactly why he deserves playing time. He does all of the little things. He ends up getting two offensive rebounds by moving well to be in the position to get them. He also ended the possession making a 3pt of his own!

2nd Quarter

11:50 — Pretty string of actions makes the defense need to pay attention. Starts with Adebayo as the hub at the elbow. That would usually flow into some kind of handoff, with this time, it goes to Wiggins. But that’s not the main action. The real action is getting Robinson involved as he comes off the elevator screens for the open look

10:44 — One simple thing and that’s Adebayo’s quick decision to find Robinson on the other side of the court. It’s a broken play but his instant recognition means an open 3pt. Also, note Highsmith making the right read to cut after being helped off. Niang is always helping off someone and goes to the paint. LeVert is then tasked with zoning up and dealing with the two spacers. Instead of Highsmith standing still, he cuts and that brief confusion from LeVert on who he should cover means an open window to Robinson

8:52 — Wiggins-Adebayo PNR. Solid reject from Wiggins and he has a burst to the rim. This is also the second time that Zacharie doesn’t rotate on time as the low man

8:24 — Wiggins ISO vs Young but then he’s seeing Niang pre-rotating off of Jaquez Jr after he cleared the corner. Wiggins looks to find Adebayo but it’s just a contested fade after cutting

The Heat really need to find a way to somehow counter Niang helping off anyone that he’s on.

8:00 — Wiggins ISO from the corner and as always he’s drawing the defense to pre-rotate all to his side. There’s also Capela helping off Adebayo at the break to basically create a wall in the paint. There’s absolutely no space for Wiggins to attack. Thankfully, Highsmith makes the right read when that happens and exploits the overhelping defense by cutting, which catches the defense by surprise and has the open kick. Smart IQ from him

But the Heat really need to do something with the spacing. I still have no idea how to feel about Adebayo being used off-ball like that because he provides no gravity through his spacing. Many times, he doesn’t even get the pass. More often than not, he won’t even take the 3pt(we’ll see that later). And even if he does, that’s a good look for the defense to give up than allow Wiggins to get downhill.

Like you just can’t have something like this happening:

That’s also on others. There needs to be some counters to either occupy the defense where they can’t overhelp in such a way or those three on the weakside have to better better to punish that. If Highsmith doesn’t cut(that would be the case most often, especially if he’s not on the court), then that would generally be a kick and the defense has time to recover.

7:00 — Adebayo elbow hub and that flows into one of the staple actions. A simple Robinson backscreen into a handoff. Robinson doesn’t even catch the pass well and he still drills the 3pt. Hilarious

6:32 — Jaquez hub up top with Robinson coming off a stagger. It’s a great read to come off the first screen, as Mann is trailing and curls to the rim. Good find from Jaquez

5:17 — Some more Robinson coming off elevator screens. He doesn’t make it here but still a good action to get him good looks

4:42 — Herro-Ware-Robinson Spain PNR(the first of many). Herro has the drive, Ware’s roll draws the tag from the corner, and Herro makes the skip to the corner for a Highsmith triple. Also, note the help off the strong side corner from Niang off of Jaquez. That help does prevent the drive, which we’ll see a change because of it later

3:48 — It’s 3s like this, especially from Herro that weren’t falling the other night

3:18 — Herro-Ware-Robinson Spain PNR(#2) and this time Herro has a full drive to the rim. The defense at the initial point has no idea what to do with Herro or Robinson. You can see the confusion on the second screen that gives Herro the same drive. The difference here is who stands in the strongside corner. Instead of Jaquez, it’s Highsmith, which makes LeVert reluctant to show help, outside of a little stunt. I still think the pass should’ve gone to Jaquez because Ware’s man just took the drive and made it a fully contested, tough layup, but I do like the adjustment to eliminate help

1:15 — Great drive from Herro. The defense wasn’t in good position to begin with, so they were forced to go under to recover and Herro punished that so well with the drive to the rim

The Hawks had missed so many rotations as the low man. Mann and Zacharie were the big culprits.

0:45 — I really don’t get the spacing with having Ware in the dunker spot and Adebayo in the corner behind him. There’s just no downside to helping early and can’t easily be punished

3rd Quarter

11:12 — Quick Mitchell ISO drive vs Young after pushing pace. He again gets deep into the paint, which draws the defense inside, as Onyeka collapses off of Adebayo on the break. Mitchell makes the kick but Adebayo doesn’t look to take the shot

10:38 — Wiggins coming off the screen. He has the open pull up available but decides to not take it. It was a bit unusual for him to pass it off, considering how willing he was to take those same shots with confidence the previous game

9:12 — I loved this play and I need more. Adebayo brings the ball and flows into a PNR with Herro. Daniels didn’t want to switch and looked to show, so Herro immediately looked to pop. He draws a closeout. He beats it. And this is again where I’ve been impressed with Herro’s reads. Another instance where he could’ve settled for the floater but made the better read for the lob to Ware. That’s giving the offense a shot right at the rim, which will likely be a dunk instead of a floater

8:50 — Wiggins coming off a double drag screen but spacing issues ruins it. Adebayo is staying in the dunker spot. Why?

8:05 — Herro-Adebayo PNR. He attacks the show well, goes around it, and looks to drive. On that drive, he whips out the rip through to draw the foul. I love that move from him recently

6:20 — Wiggins coming off a screen. Defense switches and he looks to attack the mismatch in isolation around the paint. A quick move and gets right into the defender’s body and draws the foul

Wiggins now has a .453 free throw rate with the Heat so far. He’s been a great addition in that ability to draw fouls.

5:50 — Herro-Mitchell PNR looking to attack a show vs Niang. That draws two on the ball and it’s a simple swing to Mitchell for 3pt

5:12 — Herro-Ware PNR. Early tag from Onyeka off of Adebayo. Herro makes the skip… but it’s to Adebayo standing a couple of feet inside the arc

Now, before getting attacked for being a nerd. This isn’t being anti-mid-range completely. If it’s in the flow of the offense and you happen to be in that spot that’s a wide open look, just take it. But in that situation, why are you even in that position to begin with? Just stand two feet back, PLEASE!

4:43 — Wiggins ISO post with everyone cleared out. I don’t like these possessions with everyone spaced out and standing still

4:13 — Mitchell-Ware handoff. Mann goes under and that’s a great burst from Mitchell to get to the rim and draw the foul. That is how you beat under! Also, Niang is in the far corner on Highsmith, but he doesn’t want to help off

3:55 — Herro-Ware-Robinson Spain PNR(#3). This time, not much advantage is created but Herro just looked to attack Mann. I don’t like how he immediately picked up the dribble for the floater

3:05 — What a confident shot from Mitchell. I LOVE this. Young doesn’t respect his shot one bit and Mitchell doesn’t think twice and casually says bet and drills the stepback

2:30 — Highsmith getting another offensive rebound. This is overall a solid possession. Herro-Ware PNR with early help coming and Herro makes the skip. Highsmith beats the closeout to continue the advantage and finds the open kick. He’s in the right spot again for the board and makes the kick to Robinson. That’s six points Highsmith has created

1:50 — Offense not getting anything quickly but the motion continues to happen from everywhere. Nothing is still or stagnant. There’s going to be a lapse somewhere and that lapse gave Robinson off a screen an advantage as he curled to the rim

1:15 — Herro ISO drive vs Mann. That was such a great hesitation move before a sudden cross. He attacks and sees help from the strong side corner(Hello, Niang!) and makes the kick to Mitchell. He continues to make them pay

4th Quarter

11:26 — Robinson coming off a screen. His 3pt threat is so damn scary. The defense is doing everything to take that away. He comes off a screen and sees early help sitting at the break the same way any slasher would see help at the nail

9:33 — More 3pt from Mitchell! He really was feeling it after a few triples. The celebrations were coming out

8:15 — Wiggins pushing pace with a quick ISO drive but it’s a great read from Highsmith to relocate from underneath before the defense is aware. Ball was moving and it finds Highsmith for the open 3pt

5:55 — Adebayo attacks but doesn’t get the look he wants with the defense not biting. I don’t like the shot he took after. He stopped. He pivoted and decided to go for a contested fade when he had Mitchell wide open next to him

4:15 — Robinson off a stagger and the defense is glued to him. LeVert is not letting him get free period. It flows into a Mitchell ISO vs Young. That’s an easy drive, gets to the paint and draws the help, which opens up Adebayo cutting from the dunker spot

2:36 — Herro-Adebayo-Robinson Spain PNR(#4). Gets a good look for Robinson for 3pt. They had success running this action

Defense

1st Quarter

11:41 — Daniels post hub into a handoff. Herro goes under but then gets beat to the spot easily and allows an open floater. That is the shot the Hawks were feasting on

10:32 — Starts off with Mitchell getting beat by Young in a PNR. That forces Adebayo to rotate quickly. But the play breaks down with Wiggins not sinking in and taking Adebayo’s man. Didn’t help the helper and it ends in a lob

10:10 — Transition defense getting back quicker and not allowing an easy shot. This was a big issue in the previous game and that was easily addressed

9:07 — Young-Daniels PNR to get Herro switched on him. It then flows into a Young PNR with Herro trailing and forces Mitchell to show stronger help, which opens up Daniels for 3pt

7:32 — Herro trailing the action vs Daniels. He was too far from Daniels to begin with and couldn’t get over the screen, if he tried. Ware was also allowing the roll to get behind him and no help on the backside

7:05 — Great closeout from Adebayo(that will be a common thing I’ll write)

6:40 — Young vs Herro on the switch but no advantage

5:08 — LeVert-Niang PNR looking to get Robinson involved. He doesn’t want to give up the switch and that gives up the open pull up 3pt

4:40 — Mitchell fell asleep for a second and got backcut badly

4:02 — Hawks really had so many easy floaters in the paint

3:40 — Why is there a need to overhelp so much every single time? Why is Adebayo coming to the paint to help Ware when he didn’t even give up a drive or any kind of opening for one? All that does is open a kick to Niang for 3pt

2:30 — Young vs Anderson on the switch. It’s a quick ISO. Help was somewhat showing but not fully committing. Young easily gets a step and draws a foul

2:10 — LeVert vs Anderson. Another easy drive given up in ISO

That was the end of Anderson’s playing time for the game.

1:15 — Zone defense(I will be tracking the times they go into a zone #1). It was a solid possession for the most part until Wiggins caught ball watching a bit and gave up a 3pt on a fly-by contest

0:12 — More zone(#2) and this time, no advantage was created. Ended with a late clock shot for Niang

2nd Quarter

11:30 — Young PNR vs Highsmith(this is the first time we see Highsmith check in). He was trailing the play and Young gets a floater against Adebayo in drop

11:00 — Young going at Highsmith again. Not great defense once more. This time it was Highsmith trailing off ball and he gets a drive. Highsmith looked to recover but gets put in jail and that gives Young the floater and the foul. I didn’t like the defense from Highsmith to start

10:35 — Young vs Highsmith for the third time. This time much better defense looking to recover on the screen. He didn’t give anything up. The play broke down when Burks got backcut by LeVert(that was a really good fake and cut from him). That forced Adebayo to react and opened up Capela on the cut

9:45 — Zone def(#3). Robinson can’t fully see where Mann is on the wing and that leaves him prone to just getting Maggette cut

9:20 — Transition defense. Again much better at stopping the potential fastbreak. The whole idea looked to be creating a wall early. That was also allowed to happen because everyone made a significant effort to get back quicker to be in position. You can see Adebayo sinking lower to stop Mann from even thinking to attack

9:08 — Young vs Highsmith. Again is trailing. That has been a big issue in the first half. He’s trailing off ball and Young curls to the rim, forces help and opens up the kick

6:25 — Zone def(#4). Just a quick swing to LeVert 3pt with Jaquez contesting

5:40 — Zone def(#5). Ball is moving around the arc. Nothing is going on. Good possession until Onyeka cuts inside and gets a touch in the paint. That creates an open kick to Mann. Poor awareness from Wiggins

5:10 — More transition defense that gets the stop on the drive. Walling up early and quickly. That was negated but then the play broke down in the half court with Highsmith losing Daniels on the cut. I haven’t liked Highsmith at all on defense

4:33 — Another bad possession from Highsmith. It’s poor screen defense where he takes a much longer route for no reason, which opens up a roll. Robinson also late to realise that he needs to help

4:06 — Poor closeout from Herro. Mann doesn’t warrant that kind of closeout. He gets beat immediately by having that inside foot attacked

2:30 — Herro digging and just looking jumpy and all that jumpiness has him out of position when Daniels makes a sudden cut

2:10 — Mann quickly looks to attack Herro and gets a deep paint touch that forces help(Jaquez probably overhelping)

1:30 — Young vs Herro but just goes for the 3pt. Young has let the mismatch off the hook by settling for off dribble 3s

3rd Quarter

11:00 — Young-Daniels PNR. He pops and there’s miscommunication with Wiggins and Adebayo where one of them doesn’t switch. That leaves Daniels with the advantage on the roll and makes the kick

10:26 — Young PNR with Mitchell trailing. Adebayo has to step up and it’s an open lob. There’s also no tag from Herro at all. He’s on Daniels. That should be an easy decision to be early on the roll

10:08 — Young vs Mitchell and as usual, he’s trailing again off ball and allows a floater

Mitchell and Highsmith were trailing Young so many times

9:40 — Young vs Herro but this is some solid 1v1 defense from Herro and does not allow anything

9:00 — Mitchell trailing Young. There was a pick near halfcourt to get him trailing before flowing into another one

7:53 — more Young vs Herro on the switch but it’s also more good defense from Herro going under, fighting over and then hustling to recover. Adebayo was also showing strong help off the corner being in the paint early. Not sure why that was needed to that extent

7:20 — Young vs Herro. It’s getting spammed at this point. This time, it’s an open pull up 3pt vs drop. Herro doesn’t get close to him and is late when deciding to go over

6:36 — What a defensive possession. Adebayo with a great closeout(though he did lose his man relocating somewhere else) and then Mitchell with perfect defense taking everything away at POA

6:10 — Adebayo is providing so much help in gaps

6:04 — Awful possession on the inbound play. I’m not sure what Herro is doing because that is what set everything off. Mitchell also with no recognition that he needs to be in help position

5:35 — Adebayo switching everything up top with nothing allowed until the late LeVert 3pt

4:35 — Daniels picking on Robinson on the switch. He trails behind the PNR and that forces Ware to step up. It forces a switch and Capela can easily finish over Robinson in the paint. That’s where they’ve been feasting

2:53 — Robinson was yelling here at Ware for not picking up the backside man in early offense, which gave up a lob but it did feel like it was Robinson’s fault either way because that would’ve been his responsibility:

2:08 — This is the following play that looks kind of in a similar situation where Ware had to help after Herro gets beat by Mann. And then Robinson doesn’t sink down to help the helper

1:00 — Zone def(#6). Niang gets a 3pt off a swing

4th Quarter

11:50 — BEST POSSESSION. It starts with a full court press falling back into a zone(#7) with Highsmith and Mitchell up top. Mitchell doesn’t allow Young to do anything. This was a statement to start the fourth that gave the Hawks the worst scoring quarter in the game

11:00 — Zone def(#8) Highsmith stepped up defensively in the fourth. He was keeping everyone in front and this is the zone that I want to see more

9:15 — Zone def(#9) with Highsmith, Mitchell and Wiggins. UGH. I love just thinking about that

8:30 — What a great closeout from Adebayo. [Insert the gif from Bruce Almighty spelling out B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L). The possessions is topped off with Highsmith being physical and getting the deflection

7:55 — Zone def(#10). More zone with Highsmith and Mitchell up

5:20 — Another kind of wall in transition to stop the break. Young vs Herro that again ends in a settled 3pt

4:00 — Mitchell and Highsmith POA defense is going to be nasty