In game three, the Miami Heat scored an average 13 points on 12 post up possessions.  However, if you break this down further, you will notice that the Heat had a lot of success on the block when they were posting up either Dwyane Wade or LeBron James.  On the six possessions where either Wade (fourtimes) or James (twice) posted up, the Heat came away with 11 points.  The Heat are having so much success posting these two up, that the Dallas Mavericks may be forced to change the way that they defend the Heat’s wing post up possessions.

All series long, the Mavericks have sent a double team whenever James or Wade post up their man.  When LeBron James gets posted up, it is usually a set play and in game three it was no different.  James’ post up plays came on the first possession of the game and the first possession of the second half.  These post up opportunities are a set play based on how the Heat know Dallas defends James on the block.

Expecting the double team to come from Joel Anthony’s man, the Heat actually use Anthony to set a pindown screen for a shooter on the weakside.  In the first clip, the result is Anthony getting a good screen set on Jason Kidd, resulting in a three point shot for Mike Bibby.  On the second play, the Heat look to run the same play, but Dallas being a little hesitant sends a double from Chris Bosh’s man.  The result is still the same, with Bosh getting (and hitting) a wide open jumper.

When Dwyane Wade posts up, it looks a little different, because it seems to happen in the flow of the offense rather than off of a set play.  Despite the difference, Dallas still seems insistant on sending a double team to the wing post up:

On Wade post ups, the Heat like to use LeBron James to enter the basketball into Wade.  The Heat do this for two reasons.  First, if Shawn Marion falls asleep and shades too far off of James, Wade can simply kick it out to James and let him attack (which is what happens on the first possession).  Also, it takes away the double team from the man making the entry pass (no team is going to leave James to double the post), forcing the double to come from the weakside.  That is what happens on the second play in the video above.  The Mavericks double on the pass from the weakside and Wade does a good job of swinging it to the opposite side, and the result is an open jumper for Udonis Haslem.

My recommendation for Dallas’ defense?  Play a few post-ups straight up without a double team.  It might not work (the numbers show that both Wade and James are solid on the block), but you can see how effective the Heat are when they are passing out of a double when either James or Wade post up.  In fact, the only time the Mavericks got a stop during game three is when they didn’t send a double team at Wade:

Here, you have Jason Kidd covering Dwyane Wade and Wade tries to back him down from the dribble.  For whatever reason (probably because there was no entry pass), a double never comes at Wade.  However, as Wade makes his move and commits to the rim, Tyson Chandler brings the help defense.  Wade has to double pump, allowing for Kidd to swipe at the basketball and knock it loose.

Is playing the post one-on-one going to lead to stops every time?  Probably not (especially when Jason Terry is stuck on Wade), but what that does is it allows the rest of the defense to stay with their man.  Mike Bibby won’t get open looks on the weakside, LeBron James won’t make the catch and have a straight line to the rim, the Mavericks’ defense won’t be forced to rotate out and chase the basketball around.  It is obvious that James and Wade are expecting the double team and are more than willing to kick the ball out, if you present them with an opportunity where a double team never comes, maybe that won’t be ready to attack to the best of their ability.