The Miami Heat Lineup That Gutted The Sacramento Kings
Possessing a unique and deep combination of impactful players, the Miami Heat is going to be in a constant state of evolution during the 2015-16 NBA season.
Clinging to a six-point lead after three quarters, coach Erik Spoelstra threw out a sparingly used lineup to finish off the visiting Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.
Goran Dragic, Gerald Green, Justise Winslow, Josh McRoberts and Chris Bosh had logged just four total minutes entering tonight. It might've been more had Green not missed six games, but in just four minutes to start the fourth quarter they blew the Kings off the court with a dynamic plus-8 jolt, stretching the Heat's lead to 95-81.
Though eight minutes remained on the clock, the Heat had a win probability of 97.3 percent.
That lineup was the hammer, splashing down three 3-pointers in a night where the team struggled to connect from deep, shooting just 29 percent. Short Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, and Hassan Whiteside, it was an especially complementary lineup for Dragic, a player who hasn't found a groove of consistency yet early in the season. Featuring explosive wings in Green and Winslow and a couple of versatile, strong-shooting bigs in McBob and Bosh, the paint was open for Goran to slice through the defense and push the pace, playing the role of unquestionable facilitator.
During those 240 seconds, you could just feel the hinges being blown off the Cousins-less Kings.
"That was probably the most passion we played for the evening -- both ends of the court," Spoelstra said of his group that kicked off the fourth quarter. "The guys really responded to each other's energy. We ended up getting multiple stops in a row, some very good offensive possessions. So that's why we rolled with that group but it was a pocket of the game of how we want to play. And now we just have to work for more consistency."
Look for Spo to continue to tinker with lineups as the regular season plows forward as he seeks to find his most potent combinations. A four-minute stretch is by no means a sufficient sample but Miami's five-man unit to launch the fourth quarter was lethal tonight.
Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshBaumgard
