(Photo Credit: Mike Ehrmann)
The Miami HEAT return to action against Western Conference power, the San Antonio Spurs. The HEAT are 10-3 and are riding a four-game winning streak. The Spurs enter with a record of 13-3 and have won five straight. Tip off is set 8 PM. Coverage on Sun Sports starts at 7:30 PM.
1. We’ll start with the big question of the night: Who starts in the place of Shane Battier?
1. Couper Moorhead: If he’s healthy – and thus not sick as he was last week – my best guess is that it will be Rashard Lewis. Starting Lewis, you go into this matchup knowing he’s giving up quite a bit of size to DeJuan Blair and Tim Duncan and lacks the many tricks that Battier uses to compensate for that disadvantage, but it’s still a net positive keeping Miami’s offensive spacing at the status quo and therefore affording LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh the freedom they need to operate efficiently in Erik Spoelstra’s read-and-react sets.
Danny Martinez: I think this is one of those situations where there really is no bad option. Rashard Lewis, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and Mike Miller would all be capable starters in that spot. If the HEAT maintain their spacing, Lewis and Miller are the best options. The Spurs are currently starting three guards, so Miller could work, but it would force LeBron James to cover a power forward for an extended period of time. James could handle it, but the extra effort may not be worth the headache. Lewis is really the perfect fit, at least offensively. He’ll space the floor the same way Battier does and he offers a little post game on top of that. Defensively, Lewis can tread water against any power forward the Spurs put on the floor (Tim Duncan is NOT a power forward). I think he gets the nod.
2. Given the changes the Spurs have made to their system over the last few seasons, does their offense resemble Miami’s more than people might think?
Couper: It still seems to shock people these days, but the Spurs are a better offensive than defensive team these days. They’re ranked fifth on both sides of the ball, but last season they were the most efficient offense in the league and just outside the Top 10 in defensive efficiency. And just as with the HEAT, the Spurs keep floor spacers on the court at all times, always giving ballhandlers a shooter to hit in the corner should the defensive get caught out of position. Strange as it is to say, as much fun as we have had watching the HEAT play the Nuggets, this game should be just as entertaining.
Danny: Coach Spoelstra intimated as much during practice yesterday. The Spurs spread teams out, run lots of pick-and-rolls and love finding open shooters in the corner. Sound familiar? The Spurs are still saddled with their old reputation of playing slow, methodical basketball. It couldn’t be farther than the truth. Instead, they play extremely fast while maintaining the precision of a brain surgeon.
3. Sticking with that line of thinking, if Miami’s defense has another up-and-down game, where are they going to get burned?
Couper: Shooting will always suffer from some variance night-to-night, but if the rotations are slow the Spurs will be playing pop-a-shot from the corners after Tony Parker darts into the lane off high screens. San Antonio will isolate Tim Duncan in the post as well, but if defenders get caught ball watching, the Spurs have been expertly trained to cut into open space along the baseline.
Danny: The Spurs love to make the extra pass along the perimeter. If a shooter has a sliver of daylight, the ball will find him. By running a spread pick-and-roll, the Spurs force teams to provide help defense. They’re patient and wait until the right opportunity opens up. If the HEAT don’t play one of their better defensive games, they may get lit up from behind the arc. Few teams shoot as many threes as the Spurs do and over the last couple of seasons, even fewer have made them at a higher rate.
4. Will Tim Duncan ever stop?
Couper: As the players like to say, Father Time is undefeated. Duncan won’t be able to last forever, but it’s remarkable how good of shape he manages to keep himself in. His minutes has dropped because Popovich knows that they’re playing to be ready for the postseason, but Duncan’s per-36 minute numbers are almost exactly the same today as they were ten years ago. He can stick around as long as he likes.
Danny: No.
5. Last 40 seconds, tie game, what set does each coach go with?
Couper: Spoelstra has been hammering two different sets late in game so far: the corner screen that leads to either a curl or a Wade-James pick-and-roll and the Ray Allen play that has Allen slipping a high pick followed up by a double-screen in the middle of the floor. He’s flashed a number of variations on each, but unless he gets James or Wade in a mismatch he likes or the play breaks down and James and Bosh simply run a pick-and-roll, look for one of those two sets. As for Popovich, he’ll often run option screens for Tony Park to get him moving off the ball as non-playmaker holds the ball up top, or they’ll use a Parker-Duncan pick-and-roll to decoy for off-ball screens creating a look for a shooter.
Danny: The HEAT are very fond of the corner set that we saw featured against the Cavaliers the other night. The play has all kinds of fin triggers that can lead to open driving and cutting lanes and three-pointers. Defenders get caught having to make quick decisions, picking which poison will go down the smoothest. As for the Spurs, the play that they ran to beat the Lakers was great. A series of screens and re-screens eventually freed Danny Green up for the game-winning three. Selfishly, I’d like to see them run something like that because I want to see how the HEAT would defend it.
