Five Stars: Sunrise

Five Stars is a Hot Hot Hoops exclusive where we dig into the box score of each Heat game and pick apart the numbers under the numbers. The top five players are the Five Stars, regardless of which team they player for. I used the GameScore metric, with a slight adjustment for plus/minus to rank the players. This article is for Miami’s nine-point loss to the Phoenix Suns.

First Star

Willie Reed (MIA) 27.0

Reed earned his first First Star of the season in his fourth Five Star appearance overall, with career highs of 22 points and 18 rebounds (eight offensive). In 32:12 overall, he drained 11-of-16 shots with two helpers, two rejections, a plus-6 rating, and one steal for an approximate PER of 30.4.

Second Star

Goran Dragic (MIA) 17.4

Dragic pulled a 17.0 estimated PER in his 37:35, with a team-leading 24 points. He made nine-of-18 shots from the field and five-of-six from the stripe with a game-high nine assists, three rebounds, two steals, and a plus-3 rating.

I felt like I didn’t move so well anymore. - Dragic, after the second quarter

Third Star

Marquese Chriss (PHX) 17.3

Chriss’ approximate PER ranked second on the Suns (behind bench reinforcement Leandro Barbosa’s 22.8) at 20.8 in 30:33. Chriss scored 18 points on seven-for-11 shooting, also making both of his free throws and two-of-five from deep. He also had six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a plus-6 rating.

Fourth Star

Devin Booker (PHX) 16.3

Booker scored a game high-27 points in 35:12 for Phoenix. He made nine-of-19 shots overall and half of his six deep shots, along with six-of-seven from the foul line. He had four assists, two rebounds, a steal, a plus-9 rating, and a 16.8 estimated PER.

We couldn’t take them lightly. We kept pushing and finally came out with the win. - Booker

Fifth Star

Eric Bledsoe (PHX) 15.0

Bledsoe drained just four-of-14 shots overall and posted an estimated PER of 15.4, just above the NBA “average” of 15.0. In 35:11, he scored 17 points with seven assists, four boards, two steals, a blocked shot and a game-high plus-11 rating. Bledsoe made two-of-four shots from outside and seven-of-eight from the line.

Five Stars Standings

Hassan Whiteside 158
Goran Dragic 92
Tyler Johnson 75
James Johnson 35
Dion Waiters 34
Josh Richardson 26
Justise Winslow 16
Willie Reed 14