The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night on the first night of a back to back. It was a pretty all-around scoring performance, which wasn’t headlined by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo surprisingly. So, here are five takeaways from this game…

#1: Max Strus was indeed….loose.

The trio of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson had 1 more point than Max Strus at the half, and that just sums up this season for Miami. By that, I mean it just continues the discussion of inconsistencies and not knowing what you’re going to get on any given night, or from which individual player. But tonight, that player was Max Strus for many stretches. He’s a shooter, but that description would sell him short for his unexpected explosiveness when moving downhill. He sprints in transition, moves swiftly off the dribble, and even searches above the rim for put-backs. He’s an interesting player, but most importantly, he’s a spark guy, which is exactly what Miami needed tonight. The reason that he is so interesting, though, is that he can be plugged into Miami’s developmental system over time, which has proved to be so effective with players like himself.

#2: Miami wanted rookie year Kendrick Nunn and they got something better.

I’ve spent plenty of time in these articles discussing Kendrick Nunn’s specific skill-sets or individual performances, but this must be evaluated in the big picture. Early in the season, many people were calling for rookie year Kendrick Nunn again after he didn’t look like the same player. Fast forward a couple of months and they have something much better than anything proven in his rookie season. Once again, I don’t think anybody expected this level of shooting from the outside, especially on a consistent basis. And although I’ve harped on his use off the ball lately, his eagerness to get the ball and search for buckets off the dribble basically saved this game from getting out of hand. Nunn said a while back that all he needs is playing time to prove himself, and he’s done just that.

#3: Trevor Ariza loves the three, but his attacking seems to be even more lethal.

Trevor Ariza had some great moments tonight, specifically to begin the game in the first quarter, but something must be noted about his offensive game. He’s labeled as a 3 and D guy, which is something he seems to live up to with the amount of three point shots he takes every night, but that doesn’t tell the whole story on the offensive end. When he attacks the basket, good things happen, and it’s really that simple. Combining his length with his patience off the dribble leads to a pretty positive result, but it just comes down to him searching for it more and more. He did throughout the first half tonight, and it led to an efficient 12 points in that span. It’s hard to point out things to add to his game when he’s one of the few guys clicking, but it truly is apparent.

#4: Duncan Robinson is the fastest player to hit 500 threes, and somehow his game is still growing.

The story of the night for Duncan Robinson is that he hit his 500th career three, which he was the fastest player to reach that mark in NBA history. Clearly that is quite the accolade, but this is just the beginning for him. Not only do I mean there are many more threes to come, but actually he has so much more room to grow in other areas. Although we can talk about his close to perfect three-point night, there was one shot inside the arc that occurred tonight, and that one stood out most. Mid-way through the third, Dewayne Dedmon rises up to the perimeter for a high pick and roll with Robinson. He avoids the screen, which eliminated his defender, and flows into the painted area where he rises up for a soft jumper for two. And those are the moments. Those are the flashes. Those are the shots. He has so many more limits to reach in his offensive game, and due to the amount of work he puts in behind the scenes, he will get there.

#5: On to the next one.

The final takeaway from this game has absolutely nothing to do with this game, since now it’s all about the next one. Miami plays the Charlotte Hornets tomorrow night on the second night of a back to back, and that’s a game that Miami will want to get when evaluating the standings. An important thing to mention is Jimmy Butler’s need tonight, since although the minutes weren’t an exceptionally low number, he didn’t have one of those takeover nights that extract a lot of energy. LaMelo Ball and Malik Monk returned tonight for Charlotte, which means Miami will probably need a different Butler tomorrow night. And well, essentially a different energy level after the ball is tipped, due to the fact it took Miami some time to bring that tonight. On to the next one.

Kendrick Nunn’s NBA career thus far has been a constant cycle of ups and downs. NBA starter to bench warmer then back to NBA starter has happened over and over and over, and yet, he’s still competing with the best of them whenever he gets an opportunity out on that floor.

It’s always the “now” when discussing Kendrick Nunn. Can he step up tonight? How much of a boost can he give this team at the current stage? But although he’s 25 years old, he is only in his second NBA season, and he’s still growing as a player.

Growing a lot.

It’s not easy to stay mentally or physically ready when you’re constantly being interchanged between roles, but not only has he stayed parallel to his old self, he has made necessary improvements that make him more than just a “spark.”

The Heat organization had many expectations placed onto players that were a bit unrealistic in hindsight. But they didn’t seem to put any expectation on the future of Nunn, and that’s worked out very well.

So, after yet another scoring explosion against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, let’s take a look at what truly stood out on the offensive side of the ball.

– Punishing bigger defenders

Miami’s offense has obviously been inconsistent so far this season, but one area they’ve been highly effective with is transition offense. When a team relies on their defense on a nightly basis, that must translate to fast-break opportunities, and Nunn has been at the forefront of that.

As seen here, Bam Adebayo gets a steal and pushes the ball down the court as Nunn trails. He was forced to slightly reset after he caught the pass, and this is where an interesting growth in his game is apparent. He has the ability to take advantage of bigger defenders, not just through his speed, but through angles and body separation.

Although a quick crossover gets him this open look on the reverse, his ability to keep defenders on his hip as he rises up is something he wasn’t as comfortable with last year. An underrated element to some of the changes from last year to this year is headlined by his body language, since he’s playing at a completely different speed with a defined role.

– Tighter handles leads to more separation

When seeing Nunn’s confidence level rising in an empty corner in isolation, it just shows the type of rhythm he is in. The exact reasoning for this confidence rising has a lot to do with his improved attributes.

He is much more comfortable putting the ball on the floor since his handle seems a lot tighter. On this play, he keeps the dribble alive as he’s scanning toward the opposite side, before he realizes it’s time to just go. And when he’s moving left toward the baseline, you can almost guarantee he’s going to utilize the pull-back dribble into a jumper.

When talking about the lack of separation created between Miami’s guards, the evolving ball handle from Nunn can really change some things for him in the big picture.

– Reading each and every defender

As Nunn catches the ball on the wing with a short shot clock, his initial move is to read the first defender. Most player basically just flow into their comfort move, but not K-Nunn.

Seeing his defender running at him full speed, he flows into a slow pump-fake to truly sell it, and it eliminates him from the play. Now, it looks like he has his favorite mid-range jumper with nobody in sight, but he immediately reads the next defender.

Keldon Johnson is forced to split the difference between him and Jimmy Butler, and you can see there’s a slight hesitance from him to fully lock on Nunn. So, he rises up for a smooth finger roll at the rim, just further showcasing the most crucial attribute of all: reading a defense in fast motion.

– A mixture of the past three things discussed

After touching on his success against bigger defenders, an increased handle, and reading his defender, here’s one play that shows all three of those elements.

Jimmy Butler begins the possession in the high post, which is where he finds himself frequently lately, as Nunn circles around to find an opportunity with the Trevor Ariza off-ball screen. Now, as he receives the ball on the wing, he patiently reads the defender, gives a slight jab left knowing that he can take the bigger defender off the dribble, and uses his body to create separation for the open layup.

The reason this play is important to show is to prove the fact that these moments aren’t one time instances, and actually are things he’s incorporated into his game every night.

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– Diversified scoring, drop coverage killer

Before last night’s game, I mentioned that it could set up for a big time Nunn performance due to the Spurs drop coverage that he always loves to exploit from the mid-range area.

Since last year, he’s always been a good mid-range scorer, but he’s actually controlled that area of the floor a lot more than usual. Instead of awaiting an open jumper to present itself, he searches for it and finds his favorite spots in any of Miami’s normal sets.

On this possession, he gets to his spot and rises up for the bank-shot, which just shows his soft touch and diversified scoring abilities as time goes by. And the most important thing to observe here is his eye level. An issue lats season was his hesitance in a pick and roll, not knowing whether to make the pass or take the shot. Now, he seems to know exactly what he’s going to do every possession.

– Some catch and shoot excellence

There’s nothing to over-analyze on this play specifically, but it’s important to note the big picture improvements with catch and shoot opportunities. He shot a little under 35% on catch and shoot threes last season, which has shot up close to 42% this season on the same amount of attempts.

But the numbers aren’t the only thing that has shown this, since the eye test has pointed toward the different ways he’s being utilized, even as a Duncan Robinson type off-ball runner at times, which is interesting to say the least. An unexpected story line this season is that he’s been their best three-point shooter among the other small guards, and frankly, he’s been the best player overall.

– The Goran Dragic-Kendrick Nunn minutes are……effective?

Something that has stood out to me lately has been the amount of minutes Goran Dragic and Nunn have played together, and better yet, how good that they’ve been. When I asked Erik Spoelstra about their minutes together lately, he said, “Until about two weeks ago, I started to notice more and more that combination was actually being pretty effective, so it’s something we’ll continue to explore.”

Now, it’s necessary to evaluate why it has been so effective all of a sudden, and the reason for that is no surprise, Kendrick Nunn. As mentioned previously, Nunn has been involved in a lot more off-ball sets due to his increased catch and shoot abilities, meaning Dragic can direct traffic, or even vice versa.

This play was an example, as Dragic turns the corner for a hard attack, then floats it over the top to Nunn on the wing for the three.

These not so minor improvements from Nunn should not be swept under the rug, since he’s basically been that one steady rock to give them offense on any given night, which is why we’re approaching him being a closer from here on out.