Top: Miami Heat VS. Bad Defense: The three-point specialists can go to work.

Bottom: Miami Heat VS. Good Defense: The Heat have to do most of their scoring from inside the key. Illustration : Clever°Franke

As basketball season gets under way, NBA stat nerds will be poring over shot charts—polka-dotted diagrams that show where on the court individual players score from. But it’s pos­sible to go even deeper. These charts, from Accenture Technology Labs’ Joshua Patterson and Nathan Shetterley, show an interesting pattern in how the Miami Heat work the court. It seems that, no matter what, the reigning champions are going to post big numbers near the basket. But some teams do beat them once in a while. How? With strong defense that can chase the Heat’s three-point shooters off the line. Coaches (and bettors) take note.