Can Norman Powell Elevate the Miami Heat's Two-Man Game Offense?

Jan 1, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) shoots against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Norman Powell is coming off a career year for the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 21.8 points a game on 42% shooting from three point land. He was a major factor for the Clippers' ignitable offense next to James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, while doing it at an efficient level.

Even though he's a talented scorer with the ball in his hands in isolation, he did a lot of his work within the flow of the offense: many times in a 2 man game system.

When diving into some data, Powell and Ivica Zubac posted a 116.7 offensive rating and a 9.7 NET rating (which balances out the effectiveness and efficiency of the offense and defense when they share the floor). Powell and James Harden similarly posted a 117.3 offensive rating and a 10.0 NET rating.

THIS DUO 👏👏👏

Harden: 40 PTS / 9 AST / 5 REB
Powell: 33 PTS / 6 REB pic.twitter.com/ePtZFqTLjC

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 26, 2025

For context on why this is important: the highest NET rating for the Miami Heat this past season for two players who logged over 500 minutes was Bam Adebayo and Alec Burks at 7.5. For even further context, the Tyler Herro and Adebayo pick and roll, that has found a ton of scoring success in the past, conducted a 111.8 offensive rating and 0.7 NET rating.

These trends for the Miami Heat have never been a case of offense tailing off for individual players. It's simply things getting stale and schemed up against for long periods of time. We've seen it with Herro and Adebayo in the playoffs. We've seen it with Adebayo and Duncan Robinson for a half decade.

The key is new. Norman Powell is that piece of new.

The savvy on and off ball play from Powell has the potential to be a similar fit with Herro and Adebayo as it showed to be with Harden and Zubac. Or could it be another duo partner that emerges next to him such as Davion Mitchell, Nikola Jovic, or Kel'el Ware?

Lean into offense. Lean into the scorers. Lean into Norman Powell's two man game status to take the pressure off of Tyler Herro.