One move that is pushing Norman Powell into a career scoring year

The Miami Heat's 25 point a game scorer simply didn't have it going on Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors for three quarters.

His touches were limited, his shots were limited, and he spent a lot of time just watching that primary action take the first shot that was semi-available in this new early clock offense.

Powell had 8 points with 7 and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter. He ended the game with 25.

He just has this ability to run off points in a hurry, as once he taps into that aggressive mindset, there's no going back.

This wasn't a case of him just lighting it up from three possession after possession: he was working for his points as a downhill threat. Even more specifically, he leaned on a certain move that has been his bread and butter for a good portion of this season.

Secondary action, catch and go drives.

Even while being this team's leading scorer, a lot of his damage comes from that second side with somebody like Jaime Jaquez Jr or Davion Mitchell trying to bend the defense initially on the opposite wing.

"In the fourth quarter, I was a recipient of that, being able to play off close-outs on that second side," Powell said after the game when talking about his 17 point fourth quarter run. "If we would've got to that a lot more, we could've made the game a lot easier for us, not just me."

Aside from some of the rebounding troubles, the biggest reason the undermanned Warriors stayed in that game was due to the Heat not working for their shots as they usually do. That second side wasn't even being utilized in that first half, which led to quick misses and easy Golden State runs.

Talked to Norman Powell last night about being a catch and go threat in that 4th quarter:

“Tonight in the 4th quarter, I was a recipient of that: being able to play off close-outs on that second side.”

Mentions them trying to take away his three ball, so this becomes a go-to pic.twitter.com/RZfAcVTyHa
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 20, 2025

"I think that's what really opened it up," Powell continued on that catch and go move. "That plays to my ability as well, being able to finish plays on the second side with guys flying out. Especially with me shooting the three ball, they're trying to take that away. Now I give them a shot fake, and I can get into the paint."

Erik Spoelstra doesn't just see the importance in this move for the Heat's leading scorer. He sees this as a roster wide necessity in this style of half-court offense.

I asked Spo about Norm’s catch and go stuff in the 4th last night, and he seemed eager to mention that action is needed across the board:

“Correct, no not just for his game. It took us forever to get to that.”

“I don’t think you can guard Norm when he’s on the move like that.” pic.twitter.com/wuI52g2BZz
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 20, 2025

"No, not just for his game," Spoelstra noted when asked about the importance of attacking weak-side close-outs. "It took us forever to get to that. We were playing fast at the beginning, and then we were doing a lot of poor shot selection, early shots that weren't really getting to our game."

"We want to get multiples guys in that kind of situation, but it takes intention," Spo continued. "I don't think you can guard Norm when he's on the move like that, but it takes intention from the other four guys. Also he's our leading scorer, so we have to have an understanding if we're not getting to the game, we're scoring low, and he has three points: there has to be an intuitive feel where we get him in more of those situations."

The importance of a second side catch and go move when dealing with a player like Powell is that you're forced to close-out as hard as you can when dealing with a shooter of his caliber. Swinging that ball to the opposite side of the floor makes the half-court defense bend, and when he drives, help is forced to come from somewhere.

Norman Powell has been feasting off these catch and go’s all year

Teams pile help low, and he’s been super savvy on finding an angle at the rim off a euro

The shooting is obvious, but him as an aggressive attacker is the fun stuff

pic.twitter.com/o2RvY1FYPF
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 20, 2025

The other thing that Spoelstra was getting at is the players being able to have in-game awareness to activate someone of Powell's caliber when the game isn't coming as smoothly. Spoelstra had to make a play-call adjustment late in the game to lean into him in a different fashion.

The Heat's pick and roll game has pretty much diminished so far this season. Yet when the game was in the balance late with about three minutes to go, Spo knew who to put the ball in the hands of.

"We got one of the best coaches in the league: he’s like just go two-man game," Bam Adebayo said after the game when talking about his pick and roll connection with Powell in the fourth.

Talked to Bam last night about the increased pick and rolls with Norm and him late:

“We got one of the best coaches in the league: he’s like just go two man game.”

“We kept going to it, it kept working.” pic.twitter.com/nYJECBLAfS
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 20, 2025

That pushed a two possession game to a double digit lead rather quickly, as Powell got a reverse layup out of it on the first play, while Adebayo found an open free throw line jumper immediately after with the Warriors blitzing Powell.

Norman Powell is an elite shooter, and has been a reliable number one option all year for the Miami Heat. But the interesting part is that it's not always coming from "first option" spots of the floor.

He's been a second side killer on his way to a career high in points a game, and honestly, sometimes that's even tougher to deal with.