Takeaways from Heat’s win over Spurs, as Nunn shines and defense shows signs of improvement

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 106-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs (17-22) on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami (28-12) moved to second place in the Eastern Conference with the victory ...

1. The Heat’s defense was better, especially near the rim.

After allowing the Nets and Knicks to score a total of 132 paint points during a two-loss weekend in New York, the Heat was able to hold the Spurs to 44 paint points Wednesday.

Even more impressive, the Heat limited the Spurs to just 19 shots from inside the restricted area. San Antonio finished 13 of 19 on shots around the rim.

That’s a big improvement from the previous two games, when the Nets and Knicks combined to average 38 shots per game at the rim. The two teams combined to shoot 55 of 76 (72.4 percent) at the rim against the Heat.

But the Spurs aren’t exactly known for scoring a ton of points at the rim. San Antonio has averaged the fewest shot attempts from inside the restricted area (23.8 per game) in the NBA this season. Still, it was a step in the right direction for the Heat’s defense.

“We have to do it consistently,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Heat’s defense following Wednesday’s win. “This is why you like 82-game seasons. You go through all of this. Every team is going through something at some point. You’re not just going to ride a great wave all the way to the final series and game. You have to go through the struggle, work on things, try to figure it out, get better and commit to that process every day.

“Everybody knew what yesterday was about. It’s not even anything to talk about, there’s nothing dramatic about it. It wasn’t like it was a three-hour training camp practice. It was just about getting solutions and trying to get this thing better. We did it for a game and we have to see if this can travel on the road now.”

Miami turned its defense up a notch in the fourth quarter, too. With the Heat entering the final quarter down by two points, Miami limited San Antonio to 23 points on 38.1 percent shooting in the period to rally for the six-point win.

The Spurs ended the night with 100 points on 43.8 percent shooting from the field and 10-of-33 shooting on threes.

DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting.

2. Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler usually lead the Heat’s top-10 offense. But Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn took over on Wednesday.

Dragic (17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting on threes) and Nunn (33 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting on threes) combined for 50 points on 61.3 percent shooting. The rest of the Heat’s roster combined for 56 points on 38.6 percent shooting.

“Every time he shot it tonight after about the third time, it looked like it was going down,” Spoelstra said of Nunn. “It’s funny. [Heat shooting/player development coach] Rob Fodor and a couple of the coaches said that it was about to happen. He has been putting in some of these kind of shooting performances behind the scenes and in practice. Maybe not to this extent, but he just stays with it and he doesn’t get caught up in all the highs and lows that can happen during a season.”

Dragic and Nunn were especially hot in the first half. Over the first two quarters, Dragic scored 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting on threes and Nunn scored 20 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting on threes.

Adebayo also turned in a quality performance, with 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. But Butler was relatively quiet, with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, three rebounds and four assists.

As a team, the Heat’s offense shot 46.6 percent from the field and an efficient 17 of 40 on threes. Miami also committed just 10 turnovers.

3. Forwards James Johnson and Kelly Olynyk seem to be trending in opposite directions when it comes to playing time. But Olynyk did get minutes for the first time in five games Wednesday.

Fresh off four consecutive DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) after playing in each of the Heat’s first 35 games, Olynyk logged nine minutes against the Spurs. Meanwhile, Johnson saw action for the fourth time in five games after playing in just six of the Heat’s first 35 games.

In his first game action in almost two weeks, Olynyk went scoreless with three rebounds and three assists.

Johnson finished Wednesday’s win with five points and two rebounds in 14 minutes.

Johnson and Olynyk bring different skill sets to the court. Johnson is a facilitator and playmaker who can also serve as a versatile defender at 6-7 and 240 pounds, and Olynyk brings more size at 6-11 and 240 pounds and spaces the floor with his three-point shooting.

Lately, Johnson has been back in the Heat’s rotation and Olynyk has fallen out of the rotation. But Spoelstra is known to change his rotation multiple times throughout the season, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see more changes coming down the road.

4. The Heat continues to play elite basketball at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Not only is the Heat a league-best 18-1 at home this season following Wednesday’s win over the Spurs, but a deeper dive into the numbers prove Miami is a different team when it’s playing at home.

The Heat entered with the league’s second-best net rating when playing at home, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks. Considering the Bucks are an NBA-best 36-6 this season, that’s good company to be in for the Heat.

In addition, the Heat entered with the league’s third-best offensive rating and sixth-best defensive rating at home this season. Miami also entered shooting an NBA-best 48.7 percent from the field at home.

How does all of that compare to the Heat’s numbers on the road, where it has a 10-11 record? Miami owns the 17th-best net rating when playing away from home, as well as the league’s 15th-best offensive rating and 16th-best defensive rating.

It’s almost like the Heat is a totally different team at AmericanAirlines Arena. That’s a good thing, but Miami also has to figure out how to bring something close to that brand of basketball on the road.

Following Wednesday’s home game, it’s right back on the road for the Heat for a quick two-game trip that begins Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“We definitely have to carry this momentum into the road games,” Adebayo said. “We’re going into other people’s gyms and we can’t have the same game that we play at home. We got to have a better game because we’re away. The rims look different, the atmosphere is different. So we just got to go out there and bring more of an edge.”

5. Despite entering Wednesday’s contest on a two-game losing skid that included some ugly play, the Heat stuck with pretty much the same rotation it has used over the past week.

The one change to the rotation was the addition of Olynyk, who played because rookie guard Tyler Herro (left knee bruise) was unavailable for just the second game this season. Herro is averaging 28.4 minutes per game this season, and Spoelstra turned to Olynyk to fill some of those minutes.

“It tweaked the rotation a little bit,” Spoelstra said of Herro’s injury. “We had to think about that. With Tyler being out, I didn’t want to extend our perimeters too much. So I brought Duncan back in with that group, and that allowed us to play K.O. I thought it was good for him to be out there.”

The Heat’s nine-man rotation Wednesday included the starting group of Nunn, Butler, Duncan Robinson, Meyers Leonard and Adebayo, and reserves Dragic, Derrick Jones Jr., Johnson and Olynyk.

Miami has now used the Nunn-Butler-Robinson-Leonard-Adebayo starting lineup in 33 of its first 40 games this season. That consistency wasn’t there last season, when the Heat didn’t use one starting lineup for more than 13 games.