It’s possible to stop an explosive scorer for a possession or two. But every single time? No way.
This week, the Miami Heat were faced with the bloody task of hampering two of the NBA’s most dominant players – Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets at the NBA finals in front of their home crowd.
For close to 50 years, the NBA refused to let teams do anything other than man-to-man defense. But teams now can be more creative in how they want to guard their opponents. And that perfectly defined the Miami Heat, a team who played zone defense, a tactic where you guarded zones of the court instead of individual players.
Here’s an example: With 14 seconds left on the clock, Nuggets star Jamal Murray raced the ball upcourt. However, he found himself against a formidable 2-3 zone defense set. Murray missed his shot, and Miami shot down the court for a bucket.
Sadly, that was all the Heat could do. They lost to the Nuggets, 109-94. “We didn’t offer much resistance,” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra. “I think the thing that we’ve proven over and over is we can win and find different ways to win.”
While in the zone, the Heat allowed just 0.096 points per possession, which was very likely the best defense in the postseason. This was evident against the Celtics, where their zone defense ability regularly disrupted the Celtics’ rhythm and allowed them to seal the win in seven games.
The Heat spent 21 percent of their defense in zone, while the Portland Trail Blazers placed second at 14.9 percent, and no one else even reached beyond 10 percent. The Heat played zone more than all other teams by a wide margin.
“I think it’s effective,” Heat player Gabe Vincent said. “Because it’s different.”
Now, whenever the Nuggets run the ball upcourt, they must do a mental calculation: What will I face? Zone defense adds a powerful air of unpredictability.
For Game 4, Miami is likely to start up a new scheme. It may not matter against the powerf
This week, the Miami Heat were faced with the bloody task of hampering two of the NBA’s most dominant players – Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets at the NBA finals in front of their home crowd.
For close to 50 years, the NBA refused to let teams do anything other than man-to-man defense. But teams now can be more creative in how they want to guard their opponents. And that perfectly defined the Miami Heat, a team who played zone defense, a tactic where you guarded zones of the court instead of individual players.
Here’s an example: With 14 seconds left on the clock, Nuggets star Jamal Murray raced the ball upcourt. However, he found himself against a formidable 2-3 zone defense set. Murray missed his shot, and Miami shot down the court for a bucket.
Sadly, that was all the Heat could do. They lost to the Nuggets, 109-94. “We didn’t offer much resistance,” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra. “I think the thing that we’ve proven over and over is we can win and find different ways to win.”
While in the zone, the Heat allowed just 0.096 points per possession, which was very likely the best defense in the postseason. This was evident against the Celtics, where their zone defense ability regularly disrupted the Celtics’ rhythm and allowed them to seal the win in seven games.
The Heat spent 21 percent of their defense in zone, while the Portland Trail Blazers placed second at 14.9 percent, and no one else even reached beyond 10 percent. The Heat played zone more than all other teams by a wide margin.
“I think it’s effective,” Heat player Gabe Vincent said. “Because it’s different.”
Now, whenever the Nuggets run the ball upcourt, they must do a mental calculation: What will I face? Zone defense adds a powerful air of unpredictability.
For Game 4, Miami is likely to start up a new scheme. It may not matter against the powerf
