Coach Spoelstra gives Miami Heat's three-point specialists green light to shoot - MiamiHerald.com

Mike Miller’s daily shooting drills are legendary around the NBA.

When a practice or pregame shootaround is over, Miller is really just getting started. He heads back out onto the court after everyone else is finished and runs through a shooting session that includes hundreds of three-point shot attempts. If he misses two shots in a row, he has to start that portion of his routine all over.

It’s not uncommon for him to make 15 to 20 three-pointers in a row.

For Miller, his exhaustive shooting habit was the backdrop for a bit of self-effacing humor during the regular season. Miller would launch hundreds of three-point attempts during practice, but in games sometimes only attempt one or two shots.

“A lot of work for two shots,” Miller would say with a smile.

“Gotta make them count.”

Miller sometimes joked about his limited role during the season, but in reality he knew his exhaustive individual shooting drills were more about preparation for the postseason than anything else.

With the playoffs under way, Miller is now under direct order from coach Erik Spoelstra to shoot the ball every time it touches his hands.

And the same goes for Shane Battier and James Jones.

Lost amid LeBron James’ otherworldly performance on Saturday in the Heat’s 100-67 victory against the Knicks in the opening game of the first-round of the playoffs was the heavy number of three-point shot attempts by the Heat’s sharpshooters. Entering the series, the Knicks carried the reputation as the more prolific three-point shooting team, but the Heat matched New York shot-for-shot from three-point range in Game 1.

Being aggressive

The Knicks three-point shooters combined to go 7 of 21 while the Heat was 8 of 21. Those statistics were not an aberration, says Spoelstra. The emphasis on three-point shooting will be a key for the Heat throughout the playoffs.

As Spoelstra likes to say, there is a “symbiotic relationship” between the Heat’s three-point shooters and the team’s attacking players, James and Dwyane Wade.

“[Spoelstra] wants us to be aggressive and to hunt down shots and to be energetic in the pursuit of our shots,” said Jones, who scored seven points in less than eight minutes off the bench for the Heat in Game 1.

“Because we know that as [James and Wade] continue to attack the basket that we’ll have to be relied upon to make shots. Coach is encouraging us to find a rhythm, be aggressive and work to make sure our long ball matches our paint attack.”

The most significant difference between the Heat’s playoff run this season and the one last year are the additions of Shane Battier and a healthy Miller to the rotation. On Saturday, the two players combined for 15 three-point attempts.

Miller alone attempted nine three-pointers. During the regular season, he averaged three three-point shots per game.

Creating shots

“I think it’s more of a mindset for our team to not get so locked into isolation plays but to [spead] the ball around the court,” said Battier, who was 2 of 6 from three-point range in Game 1 while also helping to limit Knicks star Carmelo Anthony to just 11 points.

“When we do that, we’re really tough to guard. Because that’s when [Miller] and [Jones] and myself can hit threes and when that happens, everything else opens up.”

Spoelstra has told Miller to attempt no less than 10 three-pointers a game during the playoffs. The high number of three-point attempts is so important to the Heat’s offense, says Spoelstra, that he doesn’t even care if Miller makes any.

“He can make zero of them,” Spoelstra said. “It doesn’t matter.”

Driving lanes

Reason being, it opens the driving lanes for James and Wade. James and Wade combined for just one three-point attempt on Saturday while going 14 of 19 from the free throw.

“It keeps teams honest,” Wade said. “When you’ve got a lineup with LeBron and myself out there as ball handlers and then you got Mike and Shane or J.J. out there at the same time, it keeps the floor spread and it keeps teams honest. Those guys got to shoot the ball â€" just catch it and let it go no matter if it goes in or not that’s what we need.”

For Miller, the green light to shoot should feel like practice.