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Numbers expose one play Heat did better than the Warriors last season

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Miami Heat scoring off screens could be their secret weapon this season to putting more points on the board.

By Leonard Kreicas
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NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Golden State Warriors scored more points from screen plays than any other team in the NBA last season. The Miami Heat were better than the Warriors in scoring off screens, but used it far less often: 408 possessions versus 1182 for GSW. Golden State made exactly 800 more points in using a technique Miami excelled at.

Off-Screen Plays By NBA Teams

Team Poss Freq PPP PTS eFG% Percentile
Team Poss Freq PPP PTS eFG% Percentile
Utah Jazz 457 5.5% 1.05 478 55.9 100.0
Miami Heat 408 4.6% 1.04 424 55.3 96.6
Golden State Warriors 1182 13.0% 1.04 1224 53.3 93.1
Cleveland Cavaliers 457 5.2% 1.02 467 52.9 89.7
Minnesota Timberwolves 314 3.5% 1.01 317 49.6 86.2
Los Angeles Lakers 442 4.8% 1.00 441 50.4 82.8
Boston Celtics 586 6.6% 0.99 580 50.1 79.3
Washington Wizards 716 8.0% 0.97 697 50.1 75.9
Charlotte Hornets 655 7.5% 0.97 635 47.9 72.4
Toronto Raptors 403 4.6% 0.96 388 47.4 69.0
Houston Rockets 345 3.7% 0.96 332 51.4 65.5
Memphis Grizzlies 526 6.1% 0.96 506 48.4 62.1
San Antonio Spurs 399 4.6% 0.96 382 49.1 58.6
Atlanta Hawks 587 6.5% 0.95 560 50.0 55.2
Sacramento Kings 464 5.3% 0.95 441 50.1 51.7
Portland Trail Blazers 603 6.7% 0.95 573 49.2 48.3
Oklahoma City Thunder 240 2.6% 0.95 227 50.2 44.8
Milwaukee Bucks 327 3.8% 0.94 308 48.4 41.4
Los Angeles Clippers 463 5.3% 0.94 433 45.9 37.9
Chicago Bulls 319 3.5% 0.93 298 45.1 34.5
Denver Nuggets 361 3.9% 0.93 337 47.8 31.0
New York Knicks 507 5.6% 0.93 473 47.8 27.6
Indiana Pacers 682 7.8% 0.93 636 47.5 24.1
Dallas Mavericks 753 9.1% 0.93 702 47.9 20.7
Orlando Magic 643 7.2% 0.91 584 46.1 17.2
Phoenix Suns 488 5.2% 0.87 425 43.1 13.8
Philadelphia 76ers 413 4.5% 0.85 349 45.0 10.3
New Orleans Pelicans 434 4.9% 0.80 347 39.8 6.9
Detroit Pistons 309 3.5% 0.79 245 40.0 3.4
Brooklyn Nets 371 4.1% 0.79 293 41.4 0.0

Wayne Ellington, the man with the "Golden Arm," uses the screen far more than any other Heat player, yet James Johnson ranks higher than anyone else on the team with a 98.8 percentile score. Josh Richardson at 91.7 and Tyler Johnson at 81.8 also do remarkably well scoring off of screens.

Miami Heat Off-Screen Plays

Player Poss Freq PPP PTS eFG% Percentile
Player Poss Freq PPP PTS eFG% Percentile
Okaro White 2 1.7% 1.50 3 75.0
James Johnson 32 3.1% 1.44 46 77.8 98.8
Justise Winslow 3 1.1% 1.33 4 66.7
Josh Richardson 32 5.3% 1.19 38 56.7 91.7
Tyler Johnson 70 6.9% 1.11 78 58.1 81.8
Wayne Ellington 153 25.5% 1.00 153 52.8 67.5
Dion Waiters 37 4.5% 0.95 35 53.2 53.4
Goran Dragic 30 2.0% 0.93 28 54.0 50.8
Kelly Olynyk 33 3.1% 0.73 24 37.5 21.5
Rodney McGruder 34 6.3% 0.71 24 42.9 20.2
Hassan Whiteside 3 0.2% 0.67 2 33.3

Besides Richardson and Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow, Okaro White could utilize the skilled big men Miami have to set devastating screens. A.J. Hammons, Jordan Mickey, Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk all have the size and bulk to space the floor and give the wings room to operate.

Screen assists by player

A.J. Hammons 4.9

Jordan Mickey 4.1

Hassan Whiteside 3.6

James Johnson 2.8

Kelly Olynyk 2.6

Okaro White 2.3

Justise Winslow 1.1

Goran Dragic 0.5

Tyler Johnson 0.4

Rodney McGruder 0.4

Josh Richardson 0.4

Dion Waiters 0.3

Wayne Ellington 0.2

In today's NBA the big's role has changed from solely protecting the rim and rebounding to assisting marksmen in getting open looks at the basket.

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