MIAMI -- An ancillary aspect of the Miami Heat's drive-to-thrive offense, when any and all opportunities are taken to attack the rim, has been the opportunity to more frequently throw hands.
No, not as in the Alonzo Mourning-Larry Johnson days at the start of the Heat's Pat Riley era, but rather to attract additional whistles and opportunities at the foul line by somewhat embellishing contact..
Entering Monday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat were averaging 24.8 free-throw attempts per game, which would be the highest such Heat average in six years and the team's second-highest average in 15.
While the average only had the Heat No. 21 in the NBA in that regard entering Monday's play, it still spoke volumes considering Tyler Herro has yet to play this season after September ankle surgery and Bam Adebayo has been out with a toe sprain since the first quarter of Wednesday night's road loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Enter Jaime Jaquez Jr., who has picked up in hunting free throws from where Herro and Adebayo left off.
Jaquez said even with Herro sidelined, there has been sideline guidance in that regard, particularly with Herro's trademark rip-through moves.
"He's been extremely helpful," Jaquez said of Herro. "He's really good at drawing those fouls in that way. So any tip that I can get from him, I'm always taking.
"And he's always in my ear, telling me."
A week ago there were 13 attempts from the line by Jaquez against the Lakers, before that eight in the Heat's first matchup against the Charlotte Hornets.
That sparked another discussion prior to Friday night's rematch against the Hornets at Kaseya Center.
"Before the game," Jaquez said of Herro, "he asked me, how many times am I going to get to the line, just knowing playing downhill and that's how scorers score points, is getting to that foul line."
Jaquez closed with 18 in that victory, albeit with only a pair of attempts from the line.
Per NBA.com's John Schuhman, "The Heat have now been almost 36 points per 100 possessions better with Jaquez on the floor (plus-18.6) than they've been with him on the bench (minus-17.1)."
And it hasn't been just Jaquez from the line.
According to the NBA's breakdown, guard Norman Powell went into Monday night averaging 48 free throw attempts per 100 shots from the field, a career-high and up from 28 per 100 last season.
For as easy as the offense might be looking for the Heat at the moment, coach Erik Spoelstra stressed painstaking efforts remain to achieve optimal spacing for drive-and-kick passes, as well as lane cuts.
"I'm managing the heck out of the spacing and what we're trying to do to open up those drives, yeah," Spoelstra said. "But I'm not putting the brakes on anybody that's trying to attack. We have to be aggressive. We have to get downhill. I want those guys to be who they are, and lean into that, but our spacing and movement is critical.
"It's a matter of everybody being organized in what we're doing with our spacing."
Most importantly, Spoelstra said the mindset has to be attack, attack, attack.
"I guess you've got to be a little of a salesman in this profession, but there hasn't been any fight back on it," he said. "Guys can see the vision of it. Doing things with energy, that's always going to be a battle, no matter whatever your style of play is -- running, keeping your pace, like running for somebody else, sacrificing running, getting to your proper spacing. All of those things are really important.
"We have a lot of guys who have that ability to attack and get downhill and get into the paint and make plays, and we've wanted to lean into that, even if probably on the outside people didn't think we have that many guys that can do it. But they're sharing the game, so it's not total iso ball or a million dribbles with somebody watching somebody go to work. It's they're helping each other get to that game."