Miami Heat, Goran Dragic Can Thrive When Small Ball Is in Full Effect
MIAMI — Adversity and adjustment.
It's become the unintentional theme of the Miami Heat's 2015-16 season, and on Friday night it helped deliver their biggest win to date: an elimination-avoiding 103-91 triumph over the visiting Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
With their frontcourt decimated, the Heat opted against forcing a traditional big into the opening lineup and instead tipped off with 6'7" rookie swingman Justise Winslow as their nominal center. Better spaced and faster paced, the Heat's offense tallied its highest scoring output of the series, which previously featured three overtime contests.
And no one benefitted more from Miami's strategic shift than Goran Dragic. The 30-year-old notched a new playoff career-high with 30 points—his most since joining the Heat at last season's trade deadline—on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.
"I was just aggressive," Dragic said after the game. "I didn't want to go home to Europe. Still want to be here."
The Heat won't be making any summer vacation plans between now and Sunday's Game 7. There are any number of factors behind that fact—the Heat won the battle of the supporting casts by a landslide—but none played a larger role than Miami's modernized offense.
Truth be told, it's not the first time the Heat have won big by going small. When they lost All-Star big man Chris Bosh to blood clots at the All-Star break, they shifted Luol Deng from small forward to power forward and effectively accelerated their attack.
Their offense never looked better (109.0 points per 100 possessions, sixth overall), and, frankly, neither did Dragic.
His best moments come when he has room to breathe and the aggressiveness to exploit that space. His numbers jumped across the board after All-Star Weekend (17.3 points and 6.7 assists, up from 12.2 and 5.3), and they saw the same spike in Game 6.
Unfortunately, he hadn't tallied 30 points over the past two games combined and entered the contest averaging 17.2 points on 44.7 percent shooting throughout the series.
"He just keeps on attacking, trying to find ways to help the team," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Tonight was has night."
The Raptors struggled to contain Dragic's dribble, and he routinely made the right play from there: slashing one play, dishing the next and sprinkling in some lethal pull-up jumpers in between.
"Some of them, he wasn't getting all the way to the rim," Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. "It was the in-between game, the pull-ups. He had a heck of a night."
This was the Dragic that caused Miami to part with two first-round picks to acquire last February and then double down on that commitment with a five-year, $85 million contract over the summer. The same one who earned All-NBA third-team honors with the Phoenix Suns in 2013-14.
"The way he played tonight is the style he is accustomed to," Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said.
Miami desperately needs this Dragic with Hassan Whiteside still sidelined by a sprained MCL. And the Heat should be able to keep Dragic at this level, provided they stay committed to this undersized, up-and-down style.
"The only person that feels worse when he doesn't look like Goran is his head coach," Spoelstra said, "because usually it's just either foul trouble or me are the reasons why he can't look like him."
Admittedly, Miami hasn't always had a motivation to run. When Wade and Bosh are around to collectively carry the offense, it makes perfect sense to find a pace that best suits their All-Star talent, even if that keeps Dragic's stat line from the level he's capable of hitting.
But Bosh isn't around now. And Wade wasn't going to have enough to match both Raptors' All-Star guards. Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for 59 points for the second consecutive game.
The Heat had to put Dragic in his comfort spot, and he showed what can happen when the conditions are right.
Adversity won't abandon Miami for its win-or-go-fishing Game 7. Bosh is already out for the playoffs, and Whiteside said he won't be ready by Sunday.
After slogging through the first five outings of this series, the Heat can't move away from the adjustment that re-ignited their offense. Their defense still held its ground (Toronto shot just 41.5 percent from the field and 25.0 percent outside), and they nearly played the Raptors to a draw on the glass, losing the rebound battle by only a 43-41 margin.
That isn't to mention the energy boosts this look seemingly supplied to the likes of Winslow (12 points), Joe Johnson (13 points) and Josh Richardson (nine points, including one ferocious finish).
But most important is the impact made on Dragic.
If he can co-star with Wade on Sunday—either as the lead or best supporting actor—Miami will extend its season and earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Spoelstra surrounded Dragic with the most complementary cast possible. Do that again in Game 7 and there's a chance for another offensive eruption—for both Dragic and another attacking Miami guard.
"Me and Goran are always trying to get in the paint," Wade said. "When we're able to see the floor open, I think we both feel a lot better about our chances."
All quotes obtained firsthand. Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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