Opponents of the Miami Heat scout the team all the time for any weaknesses they can exploit. Every game presents a challenge for Miami to outwit the advance scouting report on it and leave the court with a win.

Not only that, players from both sides have on-nights and off-nights, which lay waste to best of pregame plans. For most games an elite defense plus 3-point buckets help Miami get the job done. Other teams prepare for that strategy.

The unexpected return of Dwyane Wade has whetted the appetite of Heat fans to see lobs for jarring dunks by Hassan Whiteside, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Johnson, James Johnson and company. The Heat will give fans those special moments during a game.

Another twist to confuse the enemy involves the Heat’s talented big men taking center stage as they drive to the rim, per NBA stats.

Drives to the rim PLAYER DRIVES FG% PTS PTS% PF PF% PLAYER DRIVES FG% PTS PTS% PF PF% Bam Adebayo 37 63.2 38 102.7 8 21.6 Jordan Mickey 14 62.5 13 92.9 2 14.3 Hassan Whiteside 32 47.8 27 84.4 4 12.5 Kelly Olynyk 189 60.0 116 61.4 14 7.4 James Johnson 295 54.3 169 57.3 17 5.8 Tyler Johnson 251 48.1 129 51.4 16 6.4 Josh Richardson 375 48.4 176 46.9 12 3.2 Goran Dragic 753 46.3 315 41.8 30 4.0 Justise Winslow 161 37.8 67 41.6 7 4.3 Wayne Ellington 52 40.9 19 36.5 0 0.0

Of 309 players with more than 30 drives to the rim, Adebayo ranks second in points per drive at 1.03, and Whiteside 13th at 0.844: they’ll make defenses think twice about leaving the painted area unprotected for easy baskets.

Goran Dragic’s points per drive seem low in the first table, and that’s because he dishes out a lot of assists on his drives. Bam had only 2 on his 37. The numbers below include assists and free throws to see how many times a score resulted from a drive to the rim.

Scores on drives to the rim PLAYER DRIVES FGM FTM AST SCORE SCR% PLAYER DRIVES FGM FTM AST SCORE SCR% Bam Adebayo 37 12 7 2 21 56.8% Jordan Mickey 14 5 2 0 7 46.4% Hassan Whiteside 32 11 2 0 13 39.1% Kelly Olynyk 189 45 11 15 71 37.6% James Johnson 295 70 12 23 105 35.4% Tyler Johnson 251 51 11 23 85 33.7% Goran Dragic 753 133 22 82 237 31.4% Josh Richardson 375 75 8 34 117 31.1% Wayne Ellington 52 9 0 7 16 30.8% Justise Winslow 161 28 5 12 45 28.0%

On Bam’s 37 drives, Miami got points 57% of time, and Jordan Mickey’s 14 drives resulted in scores 46% of the time. When Justise Winslow drives to the basket, the Heat wind up empty on 72% of them.

A 255-pound 20 year-old and 265-pound 7-footer going to the rim on drives won’t be stopped easily. Add a 245-pound Kelly Olynyk and 240-pound James Johnson attacking the basket, Miami’s frontcourt has possibilities to take advantage of defenders on small-ball teams.

Couper Moorhead quotes Wade as saying he’s looking forward to working with Hassan and Bam by making them something special.