LOS ANGELES — It has been shocking — and wildly entertaining — to watch the Miami Heat this season.

For as long as anyone can remember, the Heat have been methodical. Last season, Miami ranked 27th in the league in pace, with just 16.5% of its possessions starting in transition (25th in the NBA). The season before that (2023-24), the Heat were 29th in pace with just 16.2% of their possessions starting in transition. It’s been that way throughout Erik Spoelstra’s first 17 seasons in Miami — slow, grind it out, old-school Eastern Conference basketball. In each of the last six seasons, Miami has been in the bottom four in the league in pace, and Spoelstra’s teams have never finished in the top half of the league in pace — including the explosive LeBron James championship teams.

Which is wh

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