The Defense of the Heat

The Miami Heat are playing fierce defense.  They are best in the league in FG% defense, holding opponents to 42.3% shooting.  And to make things even scarier, Miami has gotten even better of late.  Only two of their last 21 opponents have made it to 100 points -- and the Heat won those two games in the 100s.  They are 20-1 over that stretch of games.

On the other hand, even the best NBA defenses give up 80+ points per game.  In the above clip, the Heat, up by 2 points in the final seconds of a game with the Milwaukee Bucks, play outstanding end-of-game defense. Earl Boykins finds a tiny seam to score the bucket to force the game into overtime, but only after the Heat take away the better options for the Bucks.

Not sure why the video clip cuts this part out.  Note the cool 'Fear the Deer' lettering on the pants seam.  Perfection.

After inbounding the ball to Bogut, the Bucks drop the ball off the Earl Boykins who sets up the offense.  Bogut comes back into the play to set a pick to free Boykins.

Before catching Miami's Carlos Arroyo with the pick, Andrew Bogut slips the screen and rolls to the hoop.  Even though he left early, Bogut's presence has the desired effect -- Arroyo is now behind the play.  From the other side of the court, Chris Bosh is smartly eyeing Bogut and preparing to rotate over and protect the paint. 

Now that Miami has rotated, the Bucks have a man open, but it is Chris Douglas-Roberts and he is buried in the far corner.  Getting the ball to him is going to take a small miracle given the positioning of the defenders.  Look at the frame below. Igauskas has moved his feet, Arroyo has caught up from behind to help trap Boykins, and if the Bucks try to swing the ball, they are going to need to get the ball to John Salmons at the top of the key.  Try doing that with Lebron lurking and ready to lurch at any such pass. 

Try doing that with Lebron James lurking and ready to lurch at any such pass attempt. 

At this point, Zydrunas has dropped off Boykins, leaving Arroyo to guard him. If you watch it in fast motion and watch the play off the ball, Miami incorporates Ilgauskas back into the defense seamlessly. Big-Z drops onto Bogut, freeing Bosh to slide over to Ilyasova, which, in turn, allows Dwyane Wade to move over onto Chris Douglas-Roberts.  With no appealing options at hand, Boykins takes a few seconds to back the ball out and reset the offense.

Boykins, after the action has reset, takes the ball to the left side and Iylasova sets a screen to free up Earl to take the ball left.

To defend the pick-and-roll, Miami switches defenders, leaving Bosh on Boykins and Arroyo on Ilyasova.  If there are any flaws in the Miami defense shown in these photos, it would be the one below.  Bosh did not stay in front of him, so Boykins now has room to penetrate.  Bosh gives Boykins room to his left hand, his weaker side. 

With the taller Bosh hanging on his right side, there is no way Boykins can get off a jumper, so he drives into the paint.  Ilgauskas will soon rotate to deny the layup. Boykins is stuck with very few options.

Boykins has just one option left:  a left-handed floater.  Wade comes in from behind on the left, Bosh comes from behind on the right and Ilgauskas closes in from the front.  The three Heat defenders have formed a triangle and Boykins throws up the lefty floater during his instant of being open.  The basket is good and the Bucks force an overtime session, but they would eventually lose the game.

It doesn't show in this possession, but the Heat are also very good at defending the three-point shot.  In addition to have the lowest opponent FG%, they also have the lowest opponent 3-point FG% at 31.9%.  The Heat will not being pitching shutouts anytime soon, but if they keep using good footwork, clean switches, and prompt rotations, it is going to be a very tall task to beat them in a seven-game series.