Opponent Scouting: Miami Heat (11-12)
Tonight at 7:30pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road to face the Heat of Miami. The Pistons are on one day of rest after losing to the Grizzlies while the Heat are on two days of rest following a victory over Boston.
The Them:
The Heat are pretty good, but the are clearly not great, and they are also very old. They come into the game tonight with the league’s 23rd-ranked offense and 11th ranked defense.
What’s left of Kyle Lowry is the point guard. He’s 36 now and has definitely lost some of the umph he once had, but he’s still a good player, can hit pull-up threes, pass the ball, and defend. He isn’t going to take over games like he once did but he’s a rock-solid starting guard in the league. Jimmy Butler is still a hyper-physical driver who draws heaps of fouls and passes the ball well, Bam Adebayo isn’t really a stretch big but he’s a smart passer, good scorer, and excellent defender. Tyler Herro shoots good and is a good athlete, Caleb Martin has been rounding out the starting lineup as a classic Heat guy who got pulled from seemingly nowhere but shoots the ball well and defends hard.
Off the bench it’s not quite as pretty. Pistons legend Dewayne Dedmon gets some backup big minutes, Max Strus is a good shooter (and scoring a lot this season), Gabe Vincent and Haywood Highsmith are both mediocre most nights.
The outline of previous Heat teams is still here, the team defends hard, has a clear offensive identity of drive and kick, and their top-end talent of Adebayo, Butler, Lowry, and Herro is very good. The problem with this edition of the Heat is that they may not have the depth to keep them above water all season.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Jimmy Butler: Butler’s brand of physical isolation scoring is something the Pistons have no answer for. Bojan will put up a fight but isn’t that type of defender anymore, Killian is probably too small, Stewart too slow. Could be a problem all game.
Pistons youth vs. Miami’s BS: The Heat have more than one guy who does all sorts of dastardly things that can get you off your game. A young team like Detroit can be susceptible to those sorts of tactics.
Marvin Bagley vs. Defense: Look its bad. He occasionally does good things but largely does very bad things and there’s a good chance he spends some portion of the night guarding Bam Adebayo which is not encouraging. He simply has to be better if he’s going to start.
Ivey vs. Shooting more: There’s no excuse. Ivey needs to get up at least like…. 16? shots. Even if he misses a bunch. Pull the trigger young man.
Jalen Duren vs. Forcing the issue: He should have a significant size/athleticism advantage when he’s on the floor and Adebayo isn’t. Jalen should be looking to make serious inroads in the paint.
Heat vs. Energy/desire: For all the “Heat culture” one thing that can occasionally sink this team is that two of their best players are very old and simply not up for it that night. Butler and Lowry play hard but they are not always feeling like getting up 20 shots.
Pistons vs. Pushing Herro away from his spots: Tyler Herro is very talented.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
The Heat have drawn multiple techs against the Pistons
Jimmy Butler is scoring at will.
The Pistons cannot generate any offense
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Tyler Herro is bricking tough middies
The Heat look old
The Pistons bench is all in the positive.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Killian has a good game
Jimmy Butler scores many points
The Pistons bench vastly outplays their counterparts.
Pistons ride their bench to a close victory.
Pistons 107 - Heat 105.