Warriors show what NOT to do vs. Heat

As Tom Haberstroh and Kevin Arnovitz at ESPN.com illustrated last week, the Heat have been playing at a faster pace during their current nine-game winning streak. All teams score more efficiently in transition, and the Heat, boasting the two best finishers in the league, would seem uniquely constructed to score on a high percentage of fast break chances. The trick is generating those fast break chances. It’s not as easy as folks think, particularly if Miami is playing a smart team that emphasizes getting back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass.

But Miami’s job becomes a lot easier when teams slip into poor habits or lose focus on transition defense. It took the Golden State Warriors three minutes in the third quarter of their Friday loss against Miami to put out an instruction manual for how NOT to deal with Miami’s transition attack. Let’s look at some stills!

With about 8:40 left in the third, Dorell Wright attempts a three-pointer from the right corner as Dwyane Wade half-heartedly closes out:

Things seem fine here, right? Reggie Williams is off the screen, already getting back on defense, and Wright and Wade are exactly parallel. No problems.

Here’s how things look about two seconds later:

Wright is still there, chilling in the corner, waiting to see who rebounds his shot. Wade, meanwhile, has leaked out far beyond the point where Wright might catch him. Miami ends up with a Wade-Carlos Arroyo 2-on-1, and the play ends with an easy Arroyo lay-in.

On Golden State’s next possession, Chris Bosh pokes the ball away from David Lee at the top of the key:

You can see Wade guarding Monta Ellis on the right edge of the paint and LeBron on the opposite wing guarding Wright, who is standing near the left sideline. Again: Nothing is amiss here.

Flash forward a couple of seconds, and you see this:

Wade has the ball and has zoomed a step ahead of Ellis (and one step is all Wade needs). Even worse, James has blown past Wright, who has no chance to catch him. The play ends with Wade’s tossing an alley-oop to James. Bad times for Golden State.

But Golden State didn’t learn much from any of this. Three minutes later, Ellis pulls up and takes a jumper over Wade from the left elbow:

It misses. Here’s what things look like as the ball bounces off the rim and James prepares to leap and grab the board:

There’s Wade leaking out again in a blur at the left edge as Ellis watches, contributing nothing of value. Vladimir Radmanovic is the only Warrior retreating on defense (he’s out of the photo), but he’s no match for Wade, who takes a pass from James and maneuvers around Radmanovic for an easy floater.

This is not meant pick on Golden State, though it is not a defensive juggernaut. Many players watch their own shot, gawk at rebounding scrums or argue with officials instead of sprinting back on defense. But you can’t do this stuff against Miami — not when the Heat are determined to run. Take note, league.