Dave Hyde: Heat Culture is real and it’s spectacular

Near the end of Game 3, the night in hand and series under control, Pat Riley looked down from his throne with a Mona Lisa smile and barely perceptible nod of approval.

Even as he did, even with his Miami Heat leading by 25 points on Sunday night, Gabe Vincent was beating Boston’s defense downcourt for a coast-to-coast lay-up while being fouled.

It wasn’t noticed like Jimmy Butler mock-signaling at Al Horford for a time-out like the Boston veteran did in a happier time earlier this series or a play being run after time-out for Cody Frickin’ Zeller. Talk about taunting. And Zeller scored.

But Vincent still being Vincent in a blowout told the larger story of what’s at work here. Please don’t ask how it’s happening like the larger basketball nation. And please, please, don’t ask who’s doing it in looking at The Undrafteds. You know who.

This is becoming the latest, maybe greatest, example of the how and the who of the misunderstood and mis-measured idea of — yes, wait for it — Heat Culture. It is like seeing Big Foot. Only it’s really there.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about that Heat Culture before the series and sloughed it off, saying, “Every team has a culture.” We’ll give him a second shot with his season on the brink down 3-0 heading into Tuesday’s Game 4.

Mazzulla could then use the Seinfeld line this time about Heat Culture and say, “It’s real and it’s spectacular.”

Vincent, Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson scored more points than Jimmy Butler in Game 3. Yes, they all were undrafted. The point in mentioning it isn’t one of disrespect, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra took it earlier this series.

It’s that this team is full of Spoelstras — unknowns who worked their way up from the video room, who created careers through hard work, who found success in a place that helped them by accentuating what they could do and not what they couldn’t.

Hard work is the only way Spoelstra knows, just like these players. Vincent, Martin, Robinson and Max Strus aren’t built to be stars. They’re built for specific roles that support a star like Butler.

This is what Heat Culture is about. Mike Miller played without a sneaker, Andre Igoudala played defense and Ray Allen made an iconic shot in supporting The Big Three.

Related Articles

• Miami Heat | ASK IRA: Has coaching become the overwhelming swing vote in Heat-Celtics?

• Miami Heat | Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics in Game 3 | PHOTOS

• Miami Heat | Heat stagger Celtics with 128-102 thrashing, now one victory from NBA Finals

It sounds silly to say the Heat are running Boston off the court simply because they’re working harder. But it’s bottom-line true. They’re working harder.

That might not play into many people’s ideas of talent. Even up 2-0, ESPN analytics only gave the Heat a 35 percent chance of winning the series. Analytics are purported to be unbiased proxies. But what you measure shows a bias.

Hard work is a talent, Heat Culture says. Toughness is, too. How do you build that up? It goes beyond sizing up who you sign. It includes, as Vincent says, “measuring everything at practices.” Loose balls. Deflections. Charges. Everything.

So, it’s no surprise the Heat lead the playoff teams in what NBA.com terms “Hustle Stats.” Screen assists. Loose balls. Deflections. Charges drawn. That’s Heat Culture. It’s where the Heat starts to win games.

“It’s about impacting winning and sometimes it’s about making the right play and doing it on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said. “That’s tough to do as a young player, because so much is celebrated just that last number of the box score.”

That’s points. Vincent had 29, Robinson 22 and Martin 18 in dominating Game 3. Butler had 16. That’s a unicorn game. It was such a runaway that most starters didn’t play the fourth quarter.

Yet, look at this game for what it showed, too. Robinson wasn’t just a scorer. He’s put in “10,000 hours of practice,” as Spoelstra said, citing author Malcolm Gladwell’s theory, of partnering his shooting to an added driving game.

In Sunday’s first half, he drove for a layup, drove and passed off to Bam Adebayo for a dunk and drove and passed out for a wide open 3-pointer. Surely, Riley was nodding.

The question now is if Boston is too broken to fight in Game 4. Jayson Tatum had 14 points and Jaylen Brown 12 in Game 3. They’re shooting a combined 29 percent on 3-pointers this series.

That’s another area where Heat Culture is winning. Spoelstra strategizes to take away the other team’s strength. That’s 3-point shooting for Boston, the No. 2-rated offense in the regular season. And Boston’s No. 3-rated defense?

“I think some of that defensive identity has been lost, and we have to get that back,” Mazzulla said.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

“We’ve got to have some pride about ourselves,” said Brown, who is 2-for-20 on 3’s this series.

So, Boston is down to Celtic Pride now. That’s what the Heat have done to them through three games. Get the fourth and Mazzulla needs to be asked again about that nebulous idea of Heat Culture.