To put the intricacies of the Miami Heat’s defensive approach on Trae Young into perspective is to consider that the precepts sometimes are leaving Erik Spoelstra’s team as confused as the increasingly befuddled Atlanta Hawks guard.
“Half the time,” Heat forward Jimmy Butler quipped, “I don’t even know what we’re doing, to tell you the truth. But we’re just playing hard.”
What the Heat have done though four games of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference open-round playoff series is cut down Young’s numbers to a size that has allowed them to seize a 3-1 lead.
“I’m sorry,” Butler said, “but when you’re that ignitable, that you’ve got to send three, four bodies at a time, I’m sorry that we’re the team that has to do it to you, but we’re not going to stop.”
In Sunday night’s 110-86 victory at State Farm Arena, the Heat came with so man bodies from so many directions that Young seemingly was left with single option. In closing with nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, all but one of his shots came from beyond the 3-point arc. It was the first time as a pro that all of Young’s points came solely from 3-pointers.
“They’re doing a great job of showing help and not letting me get to the paint,” Young said, as the teams turn their attention to Tuesday 7 p.m. Game 5 at FTX Arena. “You’ve got to give them credit. We’ve got to do a better job of figuring out how to get open looks so I can create for my teammates and myself, too.”
While there was a 24-point performance from Young in the Hawks’ Game 4 home victory, it still was shy of his 28.4 regular-season average, when he led the NBA in total points.
Otherwise, there were a career-worst 10 turnovers in Game 2 and a season-low eight points in Game 1 from the All-Star guard.
It is a defense that has come in waves, from Butler to Bam Adebayo to P.J. Tucker to Gabe Vincent to Caleb Martin to Victor Oladipo, Max Strus, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and others. And Sunday, the stifling came with Heat point guard Kyle Lowry sidelined with a strained hamstring, after he opened the series as the initial defender on Young.
“He’s got so many bodies that are being thrown at him,” Butler said, “whether it’s Tuck, who played incredible defense, you’ve got Gabe, Kyle, whenever he was available, Caleb, Vic, Max is out there, Duncan’s out there, Tyler’s out there.
“But you’ve constantly got to have your head on a swivel if you’re him, because it’s like I’m blitzing, or whatever are we doing.”
Such are the opportunities early in the playoffs, when lower seeds tend to be limited, something, say, the Heat might not be able to do against the Philadelphia 76ers’ depth of scoring options such as Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris.
“I haven’t been guarded like this . . . consistently since like high school,” Young said. “Obviously, it’s way better competition, so it’s hard for me to score a lot more through the double-teams and face guards.
“They’re doing a great job of showing help and not letting me get into the paint. When I’m driving, if I try to drive by somebody, they’re sending a double and forcing me to kick it to my teammates.”
So in addition to having the Hawks down 1-3, the Heat apparently have them also going back to the drawing board this late in the series, with Young through four games averaging 16.5 points on .351 shooting from the field, .212 on 3-pointers, with 24 turnovers and 20 made baskets.
“You have to give them credit,” Young said. “We have to do a better job of getting more open looks and getting them off me early so I can create not only for myself but my teammates.”
With the Heat having no intention of letting up.
“Honestly,” Tucker said, “just when we’re focused, our intensity is there, it’s never going to be perfect, you never know what’s going to happen, but when we’re communicating and we’re there early and making plays, and talking and communicating with each other throughout the play, we get him to take the shot we want, or we get the kill.
“To me, it’s all about us and our communication.”
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