How Erik Spoelstra's latest lineup tweak sparked a Miami turnaround

Winning streaks are fun, but teams are really in business when they can comfortably credit a turning point.

That readily applies to the Miami Heat, who have won three straight and turned around their season after starting only 5-7. There are different areas to appreciate. Duncan Robinson’s recently unveiled smirk? Check. Jimmy Butler reaching back into his bag with eclectic hairstyles? Big check. In recent weeks, Miami has gotten back to its defensive ways by sporting the NBA’s ninth-best opposition since Nov. 18, when Butler returned to the Heat lineup following a four-game absence.

But the biggest measure for Miami’s recent turnaround has been Erik Spoelstra’s new starting lineup, which features Robinson and Butler alongside Bam Adebayo, Haywood Highsmith and newly named Eastern Conference Player of the Week Tyler Herro. Since Butler came back, that unit has become the best lineup across the league and has helped the Heat climb over .500 after floating around the mark earlier this season.

Before this run, the Heat suffered close losses, blew second-half leads and, in other instances, started slowly against opponents. Miami wasn’t rebounding well nor defending consistently enough to trust it could make a patented late run to the playoffs. Spoelstra’s solution was to lean into Heat culture.

“If you look at the core four (Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Robinson) and then you add ‘H’ (Highsmith), who’s been with us since the post-COVID year, those are the most experienced guys in our program,” Spoelstra said last month. “So, they understand exactly what we’re trying to get to — even though we’ve made some adjustments — they know what our core tenets are. They’ve had the most experience playing with various combinations with each other. That matters. This is such a transient league right now. That core probably has as much experience as anybody outside of Boston.”

Miami’s core trio of Butler, Adebayo and Herro remains formidable (plus-5.7 net rating in 343 minutes together), but the Heat struggled to find the right pair to round out its starting unit. For the first eight games of the season, Terry Rozier and Nikola Jović were starters, but Rozier has since adjusted well to a bench role (10.9 points, 42.9 percent from deep since Nov. 26) while Jović hasn’t played since Nov. 24.

Always prepared to shoot, Robinson’s threat as a floor-spacer forces defenses to focus on him whether or not his jumper is flowing. That wasn’t the case in the 30-year-old’s first 14 games of the season (39.7 percent overall, 37.4 on 3s), but he’s looked more like himself since scoring a season-high 22 points in a road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 27. Since then, he’s shooting 41.7 percent from deep and trails only Herro for the team lead in catch-and-shoot 3s over that time. Since becoming a Heat starter again, Robinson has helped Miami shoot far better on 3s with him playing (41 percent) than with him on the bench (33.2).

Here against the Suns, Robinson provided an off-ball screen to Rozier, who drew attention from Phoenix defenders as the veteran shooter wiggled free for an open look. All it took was a few seconds.

Robinson’s impact has been music to Herro’s ears.

“Duncan, he’s played with all of us for so long now,” Herro said last month. “He’s another guy who creates advantages, over-reactions. That’s what Duncan brings. Obviously, his shooting, the way he moves without the ball — he just makes everything so easy on everyone else. And he really opens the floor for everyone.”

Defensively, Highsmith continuously proves himself to be invaluable. He signed a two-year, $11 million contract this offseason to remain in Miami, which is gradually proving to have one of the best respective bargains in the NBA. He’s shooting 41.7 percent from deep, but most of his attempts have been of the catch-and-shoot ilk (40.4 percent on 57 tries).

The 27-year-old’s defense, though, is what makes him a two-way treasure. Highsmith says he craves defensive assignments to limit an opponent’s best scorer. At different points, Highsmith has given blues to the likes of Jayson Tatum (1-of-9 shooting when guarding) and Anthony Edwards (3-of-9), signaling Miami’s potential defensive stopper come playoff time, when both lineup rotations and margin for error shrink.

Against Phoenix on Saturday, Highsmith was a bit all over the place — in the most complimentary way possible, of course — as he hounded the Suns’ offense. In this first example, he gave Devin Booker almost no room to breathe before the latter attempted a kickout pass to a seemingly open Royce O’Neale … to no avail.

Later in the eventual Miami victory, Adebayo blitzed Booker near midcourt to help Robinson with containment. Booker passed out to  O’Neale on the wing, but limited options on the strong side left him little recourse beyond attempting a cross-court pass to Bradley Beal in the corner. Highsmith picked it off smoother than Jalen Ramsey of the Miami Dolphins before igniting a successful Heat transition possession. Since the debut of their new starting lineup, the Heat have the NBA’s eighth-best record, are eighth among all teams in field-goal percentage allowed (45), rank 10th in fast-break points and are tied for made 3s per game (14.8). Whether applying lineup tweaks or simply trusting the next man up, Spoelstra remains distinct in maximizing a roster and ensuring its preparation for a given possession, game or extended stretch.

Of late, the Heat’s turnaround has left many in the organization feeling the opposite of blue, so maybe Butler’s next hair color of choice helps Miami take its recent run to another level.

“I would like to say and think that we’re making all the right plays,” Butler said Saturday.” Getting the ball to everybody where they’re in a position to score at a high clip. And then, we’re guarding. Whenever we’re doing that, and we’re getting out into the open floor, and we see the ball go through the basket, the game seems to get a lot easier. So, kudos to everybody for drawing help and kicking it out to the open guy.”

(Top photo: Andrew Lahodynskyj / Getty Images )