Miami

Miami Heat struggling with offense early in NBA season


MIAMI – That the offense is offensive is nothing new for the Miami Heat.

Last season, on the way to making the NBA Finals, the Heat ranked 25th among the league’s 30 teams in offensive rating. Entering Friday night’s game at the Kaseya Center against the Washington Wizards, Erik Spoelstra’s team ranked 26th.

While the priority long has been on the defensive end, what particularly hampered the Heat during a 1-4 opening week of the season were a lack of attempts at the rim. That had the Heat entering Friday’s game with the NBA’s fourth-worst shooting percentage.

“We want to put more points on the board,” Spoelstra said ahead of Friday night’s game. “We’re capable of doing that, getting on the same page and bringing out the strengths of each other. We’re going to get there and we’ll be better than what we have right now.”

It starts, Spoelstra said, with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

“Hopefully we can fast track it,” Spoelstra said. “All of us are really impatient through this process right now. But the thing I do need is we need Jimmy, Bam and Tyler all playing at a high level, at an efficient level, bringing the best out of each other, and then ultimately raising the level of everybody else on the roster, which they’re all capable of doing. We just haven’t gotten to that point.”



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