Justise Winslow played so well in first half, Suns adjusted to stop him in second

Justise Winslow had quite a game for the Miami Heat against the Phoenix Suns. He lead Miami in plus/minus, fantasy points, and net rating for the first half.

Wednesday night Winslow had more assists than Goran Dragic, although Dragic was only one rebound shy from joining Hassan Whiteside with a double-double in points and rebounds. Justise made two of his four 3-pointers, and displayed some nimble moves in the paint against one the NBA's worst defenses.

The win in Phoenix masked a defensive letdown after halftime by several Heat players, who had Drtgs below a 100 in the first half. Only Josh Richardson and Dion Waiters had a Drtg below a hundred for the entire game. Interestingly JRich scored less points than any rotation player, yet the Heat as a team scored 16 points more than Suns with him on the court.

Coach Erik Spoelstra recognized keeping a tight 8-man rotation kept turnovers way down and resulted in a season's best 126 point outburst. There’s no law though which requires Miami to start both halves of the game with the exact same 5 men.

Many Miami fans have labeled the third quarter as the "turd quarter," due to opponents making adjustments to stop the Heat's hot hands in the first half, perhaps a slight change in the starting five for the second half could throw a monkey wrench into the other team’s plans.

Keeping the rotation in place, but mixing up the starting combination might throw off the halftime adjustments other teams make. Kelly Olynyk had a better second half than first, as the Suns didn't focus on him after a forgettable first half performance.

Perhaps starting Olynyk at forward instead of Winslow in the third quarter, and bringing in Winslow off the bench with James Johnson, would have disrupted the Suns' second-half plans to stop Justise from being served. An 8-man rotation would remain to keep continuity, but confusing the opponent's carefully planned half-time schemes might prevent Miami’s familiar second half meltdowns.

In the Suns' game the difference between first and second halves weren't the player's fault, since both teams were equally fatigued towards the finish. From the tables above it's obvious Phoenix changed coverage on certain players (Winslow, Dragic, Whiteside) who performed exceptionally well in the first half. Knowing teams follow that strategy, a proactive approach might be show a look the other team hasn't planned for during the break, but still using the same tight player rotation.

In the Utah Jazz game somebody else will probably start off hot for Miami and the Jazz will play a different tune after halftime to stop him. A slight change could disrupt whatever melodies the Jazz perform to cool down the Heat in the second half. Who knows, the Heat might even burst into flames after intermission.