Shortly after Miami’s win over Atlanta on Wednesday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra addressed reporters with a smile. It has been a ragged start to the season. An offense that was bad, a defense that wasn’t much better. One superstar (Giannis Antetokounmpo) thriving, another (Bam Adebayo) struggling to find his way. The win over the Hawks staved off the Heat’s first 0–5 start since the 2007-08 season—a year Miami finished with 15 wins. “Sometimes it feels like it's easy,” said Spoelstra. “Sometimes it doesn't.”

In many ways, Miami’s early-season struggles were entirely predictable. Last summer, the Heat won the yearslong Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, extracting, finally, Giannis from Milwaukee. But the cost was steep. In draft capital, sure (three first-round picks plus a swap). But in manpower: Miami shipped four rotation players out in the Antetokounmpo deal, radically reshaping Spoelstra’s rotation. According to Giannis, that’s led to some uncertainty on the offensive end of the floor.

“I feel like everybody's trying to figure out what the next person wants instead of focusing on themselves and what they have to do,” Antetokounmpo said earlier this week. He added, “I feel like sometimes you want something so bad that you kind of, I don't know, freeze in the moment. We just got to, as bad as it might sound, we got to take a breath, relax and just play basketball.”

The flaws with the Heat roster have been, well, flaws. Miami is 17th in the NBA in three-pointers made this season. They are 21st in efficiency, connecting on an ugly 31.7%. Klay Thompson, the celebrated sniper, is shooting 32.4%. Antetokounmpo is shooting 25%, a downright robust number when compared to Adebayo’s 15.8%. Among regulars, only Bobby Portis is cracking 40%. Adebayo in particular has looked lost on the offensive end of the floor. 

To compensate for the lack of half-court threats, Miami has tapped into a familiar strategy: play fast. The Heat are seventh in the NBA in possessions per game, per NBA.com, checking in at a shade under 104 per game. Playing fast can be effective. Think the Showtime Lakers or Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns. Even Giannis’s best Bucks teams played at a brisk pace. But it can also be smoke and mirrors to mask talent issues. Consider: of the six teams ahead of Miami in possessions, only two (Toronto, Philadelphia) have winning records. The top three teams (Chicago, Milwaukee, New Orleans) have one win apiece. 

It’s a bit puzzling. Why are the Heat determined to get into a track meet? Juicing the number of possessions offensively bleeds into the defense. Miami has been excellent in transition and stingy in the paint. But they have been dreadful at defending the three-point line, surrendering nearly 40%. Adebayo has lamented the amount of airspace the Heat have been giving opposing three-point shooters, while grumbling about offensive rebounding and second-chance points.

In fact, Miami appears built to play completely differently. Antetokounmpo and Adebayo are arguably the best defensive frontcourt in the NBA (non-Wembanyama edition). Davion Mitchell is a stopper. Andrew Wiggins has proven he can defend at a championship level. Would the Heat benefit from slugging it out in the half-court? Slowing the game to a Detroit Pistons-like crawl? It won’t solve the shooting problems but it would certainly lean into a strength. 

Spoelstra doesn’t think so. On Wednesday, Spoelstra spread the praise around. Seven players finished in double figures. “When we have seven, eight guys scoring in double figures, that was the plan,” said Spoelstra. Adebayo (24 points) had his best game of the season. Mitchell racked up double-digit assists for the third time. Giannis had nearly as many rebounds (18) as points (24). The bench chipped in 53 points. The Heat had 36 assists and a whopping 70 points in the paint. Some of that, Spoelstra insisted, was because of Miami’s pace. The Heat had 107 possessions in the win over Atlanta, racking up 21 fast break points. 

Said Spoelstra, “We need to push tempo, push pace. Teams will scout against it. So what? That's who we are.”

There were adjustments. Miami ran 94 pick-and-rolls through the first four games, per Heat.com. Against Atlanta, they ran 57. That’s 10 more than Miami’s season-high in a game last season. Adebayo sounded especially grateful for the re-introduction of pick-and-roll, which pushed him back inside the three-point line. 

“[Spoelstra] is one of those coaches who sees how to make adjustments,” said Adebayo. 

Added Antetokounmpo, "Guys have to look for space, go downhill, move when somebody drives, but at the end of the day when the game slows down, you have to set some pick-and-rolls.”

Miami will have to keep tinkering. Help is not on the way. The Heat pushed all its chips in to get Antetokounmpo and unless there is a suddenly robust market for Nikola Jović, there will be no more roster reinforcements. Spoelstra will need to find new tweaks for the offense. Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. will have to find three-point consistency. Antetokounmpo and Adebayo will need to find better chemistry. On his podcast, Dwyane Wade encouraged Giannis and Bam to have the same conversation about roles that Wade and LeBron James had early in their Heat run. 

There’s been frustration in Miami’s locker room, Spoelstra said. But no panic. “We've been able to handle some adversity appropriately,” Spoelstra said. Antetokounmpo says they need to continue to. 

“We all have to take a deep breath,” said Antetokounmpo. “Eventually we're going to figure it out. You cannot press the panic button and panic because it's only going to get worse if you start panicking. I've been in this position before. I've lost five in a row, I've lost seven in a row. I've won 10 in a row. I've won 18 in a row. You just got to keep on playing basketball. You're going to figure it out.”

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