20 things to know from Heat’s first 20 games, including the injury and schedule effect

At the 20-game mark, the Miami Heat has already faced injury issues and plenty of road games.

The Heat is 11-9 this season, but has dropped four of its last five games following a 10-5 start.

The Heat returns to practice Tuesday before continuing its season with a short one-game trip to Toronto for a matchup against the Raptors on Wednesday night.

Here are 20 things to know from the Heat’s first 20 games:

▪ The Heat holds the NBA’s 11th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 114.8 points per 100 possessions) this season after finishing with the 25th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 112.3 points per 100 possessions) last season. The Heat’s offense has been trending in the right direction lately, scoring at an elite rate of 120.7 points per 100 possessions in the last 10 games.

▪ The Heat has the NBA’s 16th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 113.5 points per 100 possessions) this season after finishing last season with the ninth-ranked defensive rating (allowing 112.8 points per 100 possessions). But unlike the offense, the Heat’s defense has trended in the wrong direction recently with the 23rd-ranked defensive rating (allowing 117.6 points per 100 possessions) in the last 10 games.

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▪ After dealing with injury issues for most of last season, that problem has followed the Heat into this season. The Heat has the seventh-most missed games in the NBA this season due to injury, according to Spotrac’s injury tracker. The Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro have all been available for just six of the first 20 games.

▪ Four of the Heat’s first 11 wins this season have come against teams that enter Monday with winning records. Miami’s 11 wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 78-135 this season.

▪ The Heat is one of four NBA teams that have already played a league-high 12 road games this season, along with the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers. Miami is 6-6 on the road.

▪ Injury issues have already forced the Heat to use an NBA-high 13 different starting lineups through the first 20 games of the season.

▪ The Heat has a positive first-quarter net rating, second-quarter net rating and third-quarter net rating, but has the NBA’s second-worst fourth-quarter net rating (outscored by 13 points per 100 possessions in the final period) this season. The Heat has been outscored by a combined score of 573-512 in the fourth quarter through the first 20 games.

▪ Adebayo is averaging career highs in points (22.3 per game), field-goal attempts (15.8 per game) and free-throw attempts (7 per game) this season. But his shot chart has moved away from the basket, as 33 percent of his shots have come from within the restricted area, 45 percent have come from the short midrange area and 20 percent have come from the long midrange area this season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Last season, Adebayo took 40 percent of his shots at the rim, 49 percent from the short mid-range area and 10 percent from the long mid-range area. That has played a part in Adebayo’s field-goal percentage taking a little dip from 54 percent last season to 52.2 percent this season.

▪ Herro, who has missed the past 12 games with a sprained right ankle, is averaging a team-high 22.9 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting on 7.6 three-point attempts per game this season. Herro is one of only six NBA players who is shooting better than 40 percent on seven or more three-point attempts per game this season along with Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, New York’s Jalen Brunson, Chicago’s Coby White and Phoenix’s Eric Gordon. During the eight games Herro played in before the ankle injury, he also posted a team-high usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) of 28.1 percent.

▪ During the first eight games of the season when Herro was healthy and playing, Butler posted a usage rate of 22.2 percent. Since Herro went out, Butler has taken on a much bigger offensive role and his usage rate has spiked to a team-high 28.4 percent during this 12-game stretch.

▪ Because of the injury issues, only one Heat lineup has been used for more than 50 minutes this season. That lineup is the combination of Kyle Lowry, Butler, Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith and Adebayo, which has outscored opponents by a dominant 11.7 points per 100 possessions in 78 minutes together this season.

▪ Among the five Heat lineups that have played more than 25 minutes together this season, the one with the best net rating is made up of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Kevin Love and Adebayo. This five-man unit has outscored opponents by 21.5 points per 100 possessions in 38 minutes together this season.

▪ The Heat’s most used fourth-quarter lineup this season includes Josh Richardson, Caleb Martin, Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Adebayo. This lineup has outscored opponents by 16.7 points per 100 possessions in 22 fourth-quarter minutes this season.

▪ With the leading trio of Adebayo, Butler and Herro on the court this season, the Heat has outscored opponents by 2.3 points per 100 possessions in their 116 minutes together.

▪ Already the Heat’s franchise leader for total three-point makes, the growth of Robinson’s offensive game has been on display to begin this season. Not only is Robinson averaging a career-high 14.7 points and 2.7 assists per game, but he has also already made 24 shots from within the restricted area through the Heat’s first 20 games this season compared to just 12 makes from within the restricted area in 42 appearances last season.

▪ Jaquez has been trusted to play important minutes. Not only does the Heat rookie lead the team in fourth-quarter minutes this season, but he has also played the entire fourth quarter in nine games this season. Richardson is the only Heat player who has played more entire fourth quarters this season than Jaquez. The only rookie who has logged more fourth-quarter minutes than Jaquez this season is Washington’s Bilal Coulibaly.

On Monday, the NBA announced that Jaquez was selected as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in October and November. He’s the fifth different Heat player in franchise history to get the rookie award, joining a list that also includes Caron Butler (four times), Michael Beasley (one time), Richardson (one time) and Kendrick Nunn (three times).

▪ Winning the turnover battle continues to be at the center of the Heat’s winning formula. Not only does the Heat have the NBA’s eighth-lowest turnover percentage (percentage of plays that end in a team’s turnover) at 13.3 percent, but it also owns the seventh-highest opponent turnover rate (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) at 15.6 percent this season. As a result, Miami is averaging the seventh-most points off turnovers in the league at 18.5 per game. The Heat is 8-4 this season when finishing with fewer turnovers than its opponent.

▪ Lowry has a career-low usage rate of 12.9 percent this season. But when the 37-year-old Lowry does put up shots, he has been very efficient with a career-best effective field-goal percentage (field goal percentage adjusting for made threes being 1.5 times more valuable than made twos) of 59.4 percent and true shooting percentage (shooting percentage that factors in the value of three-point field goals and free throws in addition to conventional two-point field goals) of 62.4 percent behind a career-best three-point percentage of 44.4 percent this season.

▪ While likely not sustainable, the Heat has dominated the non-Adebayo minutes this season behind an ultra-efficient team three-point percentage of 40.7 percent when he isn’t in the game. The Heat has outscored opponents by 6.1 points per 100 possessions without Adebayo on the court this season. This is noteworthy after Miami struggled in the non-Adebayo minutes last season, when the team was outscored by four points per 100 possessions without him on the court.