"For most of Spoelstra's previous 17 years with the Heat, they only knew one pace: A deliberate, methodical one, at that. Well, this new one was the exact opposite - one that would exhaust and break the spine of opponents. It was aggressive; it was relentless; it was tenacious, apropos to an identity that they spent years, and even decades, forming under former head coach and now president Pat Riley."
"The Heat momentarily reverted to old habits over their next nine games - a stretch where they went 1-8 with a bottom-three offense in the sport. The pace slowed down and their aggressiveness waned. Though the Heat have suddenly rekindled their pace over their last three games against Atlanta, Indiana and Denver, signifying that their biggest X-Factor may not be a single player, but a style they spent months trying to perfect."
"Over the last three games, however, their pace has returned to a breakneck pace of 107.2, scoring 128.9 points per 100 possessions over that span - over two points better than the next-best team. It was capped by a season-high 147 points against the Denver Nuggets, albeit without many of Denver's key cogs defensively, namely in Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon"
After three straight seasons as a bottom-third offense, the Miami Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra implemented a new, faster offensive style during the offseason. The new approach contrasts with 17 years of deliberate pace and emphasizes aggression, relentlessness and tenacity tied to the franchise's identity under Pat Riley. The scheme produced an early surge, leading the league in pace at 106.1 with a fringe top-10 offense and a 14-7 start. A subsequent nine-game slump saw pace drop to 100.2 and the offense fall to No. 29. Recent games show a renewed breakneck pace (107.2) and high scoring outputs.
Read at Hot Hot Hoops - Miami HEAT NBA Blog
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