The Spurs beat the Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals in large part because they were a deep team.
San Antonio’s bench not only led the NBA in minutes (21.3 per game) that season but also in plus/minus (+309) among reserves.
By playing his bench so much during the regular season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich kept his starters fresh for the playoffs. Popovich didn’t have a single starter average more than 30 minutes per game that season (Tony Parker led the way with 29.4 per game), but he had eight players average at least 20 minutes (not including the valuable Patty Mills, who played roughly 18.9 minutes per game).
The Heat didn’t have that kind of quality depth. LeBron James played the sixth-most minutes in the league (37.9 per game), Miami had seven players average 20 minutes or more, and the Heat bench while pretty good (18.6 minutes per game, plus-54) simply couldn’t match the production San Antonio got from its reserves.
This year’s Heat team, though, is beginning to resemble those Spurs a little bit. Starters are getting a lot of rest and the Miami bench is producing quality minutes. But don’t tell Chris Bosh the Heat stole that concept from the Spurs.
“I don't even say things that start with S,” Bosh joked Monday when he was asked if the Heat were taking a page from San Antonio and winning with depth. “Nah man – we don't take anything out of their playbook. They're a great team with all due respect. But they're not the first team to play 10 guys."
Miami’s starters are getting plenty of rest. Other than the Knicks, the Heat are the only other team in the Eastern Conference not to have at least three starters averaging 30 minutes or more.
Bosh is playing a team-leading 32.4 minutes per game, second-fewest of his career. Point guard Goran Dragic is barely over 30 minutes at 30.6 (the fewest since he became a regular starter in 2010-2011).
Dwyane Wade, 33, is averaging a career-low 28.7 –- three minutes fewer per game than the 31.8 he averaged last year, which was his lowest average until now.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday the benefit of that rest will show itself as the year goes on. In the immediate sense, though, fewer minutes for Miami’s starters has allowed Wade and Bosh to go hard when they are in there. It’s the same for Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng, Miami’s best defenders.
“For the most part I know I'm going to play about 30 minutes a game,” Wade said. “So it allows me to be on attack mode for those minutes I'm in. It definitely helps. Some years I was playing 38, 39 minutes a game. With all this rest it feels like there's a couple minutes right now I can get back. But these young guys are coming in -- and they're not just young guys. They're players when they come in behind you to make an impact in the game. You feel confident they can do that."
Wade said in all of his years with the Heat he’s never seen quite the mix of youth and veteran leadership the team has now. With Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson, Bosh said, the Heat’s second unit can play a fast-paced style that is tough to deal with.0
“You always need that injection of youth,” Bosh said. “As veterans become super veterans you need that youth to get in there and change the dynamic of the game, change the energy. We're not always going to be able to just be super energetic, get in the passing lanes and run up and down the court. You need those guys to kind of be structured, but go out there and do what they do. That's what Tyler and Justise do. And Josh Richardson, when he gets in the game, gets minutes. He's able to do quite a bit. We really get off to the races and really kind of create that spark for the second unit. That's really what's been giving us a lot of success."
Bosh said when he returns to the game after sitting on the bench and seeing Miami’s younger players do what they do “it energizes” him.
"I always like the second group to kind of change the tempo of the game, to kind of speed it up a little bit,” Bosh said. “When we did have that a few years back it was with older guys, but we were able to spread the floor and do it more so with threes and stops. That's what really got us going.
“Now, we're in the passing lanes, we’re back to creating turnovers and that's when we need that youth. I mean, we weren't that young but we had guys that were doing it a long time, but they knew how to zone up the backside of the defense and kind of get their hands on a lot of loose balls. And we were off to the races after that."
Sort of like the Spurs some might say.
Comments