That's why it was so out of character to hear Wade's most recent advice to Wright. The Miami Heat All-Star told Wright to start being more selfish. Could that be the reason why Wright had a breakout game in Tuesday's 111-106 win over the Heat?
"Shoot more. That's the only advice I'd give him," Wade said before Tuesday's Warriors-Heat game. "He isn't getting his shots. When you're a shooter, and you're getting one shot every 15 minutes, you're out of rhythm."
Wade's advice seemed to have an immediate effect. Wright sent the game into overtime with a three-pointer with 31.2 seconds left, then exploded in the extra session, scoring eight of his 20 points. He shot 6-for-11 from three-point land and 7-for-15 overall, adding 10 rebounds.
After a breakout season in which he led the league in three-pointers and scored 16.4 points a game, Wright came into Tuesday night's game averaging 5.8 points this season. He has been getting 7.5 fewer shots from the floor and 2.9 fewer shots from three-point range per game this season.
Wright is a naturally unselfish player, but deep down, he knows Wade is giving him the right advice.
Just as the Heat’s offense underwent slight changes during the preseason, so too did the Heat’s defense. The fundamental defensive principles Heat coaches have always taught are the same, but coach Erik Spoelstra has modified the philosophy slightly to allow for more turnovers and, in turn, more points in transition. It’s working.
The Heat forced 22 turnovers Saturday. Entering Tuesday’s game in Oakland, the Heat has forced at least 20 turnovers in five games this season.
“I had enough time during the lockout and the summer to weigh a lot of different things and put together a very specific plan of how we want to play,” Spoelstra said. “There have been some things with this team that we’ve adjusted that have been different than what we’ve done with the Miami Heat for many years.
“But the personality of this team is a lot different than a lot of those teams of the past.”
In other words, this team is one of the fastest and most athletic in the league, and Spoelstra plans to maximize those strengths. Chalmers, a ball hawk since his rookie season, leads the team with 17 steals. James is second with 16. Newcomer Norris Cole has 14 steals in limited minutes. Wade, who missed three games last week, has nine steals. As a team, the Heat is ranked fourth in the NBA with 91 steals.
Just as important to its tenets of defense, the Heat has 51 blocks, which ranks ninth in the league.
“We haven’t made major structural changes on either side,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve made some minor tweaks — some significant ones that probably aren’t obvious to the average eye, but have made maybe bigger result changes on the floor.”
Both Spoelstra and James rebuked the idea that the Heat is “gambling” for turnovers.
“I don’t know if I’d use the word gambling. Disruptive,” Spoelstra said. “One of the things we want to do is play more to our athleticism and our activity and these are some of the things we’ve been wanting to stress on the defensive side of the floor.”
Said James: “We haven’t got more freedoms to play in the passing lanes and gambling. That’s not what we do. We’re just trying to use our instincts to create more turnovers, because we know if we create more turnovers, then it’s off to the races.
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