What Erik Spoelstra, Heat ‘appreciates’ about bench amidst early success

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What Erik Spoelstra, Heat ‘appreciates’ about bench amidst early success

Zachary Weinberger, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Oct 28, 2025 ·

5 min read

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The post What Erik Spoelstra, Heat 'appreciates' about bench amidst early success appeared first on ClutchPoints .

MIAMI – With the Miami Heat 's huge win over the New York Knicks on Sunday night, 115-107, the team once again displayed its new up-tempo offense that has led to everybody thriving to start the season. While the Heat aren't satisfied yet with the results , since they want to sustain it throughout the season, one unit that has benefited from the offensive change has been the bench.

Looking at the past three games, the second unit has outscored the opposing team's bench and has averaged the second most points in the league with 51.7 points per game, only ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies (53.3). Looking at even the last two games, the bench is averaging 60 points per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from deep.

Led by Jaime Jaquez , Nikola Jovic , Simone Fontecchio , and Dru Smith , they're working wonders and buying into this new fast-paced offense. When asked if the new system was leading to great results for the bench, Spoelstra would say it's a myriad of other reasons and how the team and starters "appreciate" the second unit.

"Not really sure, it's probably a little bit of everything, but they're playing good," Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before Tuesday's contest against the Charlotte Hornets . "They're giving us a boost. Everybody really appreciates it, like the starters really appreciate that. Starters also want to play better and more consistently, so as much confidence as we can feed that group, I think, is a good thing."

Heat's Erik Spoelstra describes "gritty" bench

One player who has especially been a huge benefactor under the Heat's fast-paced offense has been Jaquez , coming off a sophomore slump. The up-tempo nature has made Jaquez return to his strengths at being a downhill attacker, as even his decision-making has improved in either using his physicality to gain an advantage at the basket or passing out to an open man.

Jaquez has back-to-back games of 17 points, remaining active on the glass and being a playmaker with 15 rebounds and 11 assists in the past two games. Besides Jaquez, Fontecchio has also been impressive to start as the newcomer from the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade has averaged close to 14 points per game, making his presence known from deep, but also giving Miami a defensive intensity.

Add that with Jovic and the returning Smith, and what you have is a "really gritty group," as said by Spoelstra.

"It's a really gritty group. It's a competitive group, and you think you may have advantages if you're the other team, they make up for it with their activity and their toughness," Spoelstra said Sunday after beating the Knicks. "They have a belief and a spirit about them that is great. And then offensively, wow. I mean, they really play a collective game. The ball moves, they cut, they move great without the ball, they find open players. It's really a fun group to watch. And that's two games in a row where they really impacted the game."

"So we want to just feed that group as much confidence as possible. I want them just to be slightly to heavily unreasonable, you know, it's been a great boost for us," Spoelstra continued.

Heat's Bam Adebayo on how "active" the second unit has been

The offensive game plan has no doubt worked wonders, despite the three-game sample size, as even Heat newcomer Norman Powell has transitioned seamlessly with the system. But while the starting unit is crucial, the bench is just as key, needing to bring a spark to the game, which Jaquez, Fontecchio, Jovic, and Smith have done thus far.

If there is one player who loves to see them succeed, it's Miami captain Bam Adebayo , expressing how they've been involved in the up-tempo offense . After Sunday's win over New York, the Heat ranked first in pace with 109.67 possessions per 48 minutes.

"We got a great group. Guys, don't make me regret saying that," Adebayo said with a smile. "We got a great group, man, and we all bought into the system. And you see it, everybody's involved. You don't know who's gonna shoot the ball or who's gonna catch and go, and that's how we like it. That's how we want to play. Want to play, whether it's all five guys feel involved and they're active."

At any rate, Miami looks to keep it going as after Tuesday's game against the Hornets, the team embarks on a four-game road trip.

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