This week, we take a look at Caleb Martin playing his best basketball of the season and reasons why the Miami Heat have struggled without Bam Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith.
We are back with another edition of Heat in 5, a weekly space where I go through some of the most interesting aspects of the Miami Heat from the past seven days. This week, Caleb Martin is returning to his best form, the Heat continue to explore what Jaime Jaquez Jr. can offer, how the Heat are missing Bam Adebayo (and Haywood Highsmith) and how they can’t afford to have uninspired games from Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson at this stage.
Caleb returning to form
After a tough start to the season, which saw Caleb Martin sidelined for close to a month, the Heat’s wing is starting to find his groove again, scoring in double figures in his last six games. Looking more and more like the springy, quick version of himself, his confidence shooting the ball is starting to open up lanes for him to get to the rim. In the two games from last week, he attempted 15 3s, hitting seven of them.
In the Raptors game, Toronto was basically ignoring Caleb and forcing him to be a shooter. So, much like last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, he shot the ball. And he was hitting them, opening up space for him to explore.
Notice how the Raptors are guarding him much more aggressively in the second clip and he uses that to give Poeltl a hesitation move before attacking and finishing at the basket.
In the third clip, Kevin Love finds Caleb in the corner. With four 3s at this point in the game, Siakam is closing out hard, Martin attacks the paint and then finishes, avoiding the helper at the rim with an acrobatic finish.
He continued to be aggressive with his shot, but he also kept the off-ball movement. Off the Butler drive in the last clip, he notices how the Cavs have their eyes on Jimmy and gives him a great passing option, again, looking a lot like himself last season.
