The Rotation: Maybe this is good for the Miami Heat

The NBA regular season is a freight train that waits for no one. With multiple games nearly every single night, it can be difficult to keep up. As a solution, we humbly offer The Rotation — a daily recap series sharing three big stories from the previous night, one focused on a player, one focused on a single play, one focused on the big picture.

Stephen Curry, the universe, and everything

By Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh)

After a somewhat uneven start to the season, the Golden State Warriors appear to have hit their stride. They’ve won five of their last six, with four of those wins coming by twenty or more. There are still plenty of issues to work out — defense, rotations, and on-court chemistry are all still a work in progress. But Stephen Curry is back to shooting lightning bolts from his fingertips and that can solve a lot of problems.

Read More: The Los Angeles Clippers are the best team in the NBA

Last night, in a 24-point win over the Denver Nuggets, Curry scored 33 points, making 7-of-13 from beyond the arc. In the three games since his 0-of-10 3-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers, Curry is averaging 34.3 points per game and has made 24-of-38 3-pointers (63.6 percent). He’s essentially made a 3-pointer for every four minutes he’s been on the floor.

This is the universe of the Golden State Warriors. For all the other assorted parts and flexibility and versatility and layers of talent, what makes them special continues to be Curry’s shooting. Everything else in their offense is a, “yes, and…”

The Warriors may be vulnerable, although history should have taught us that even before they lost their opening night game against the Spurs. But they still have Curry, the greatest shooter the NBA has ever seen and the kind of player who can single-handedly in a span of seconds. The kind of player who, almost individually, can function as an efficient team offense. There plenty more games to be played and plenty issues to be solved. But the Warriors still have Curry and he still has his shooting touch, and that means everything.

Too much length

By Philip Rossman-Reich (@omagicdaily)

The Jay Bilas Special is not just a fun drinking game. Wingspan does mean something in the NBA. And when you get a bunch of wingspan together on the court, you get a lot of clogged passing lanes and a lot of lob passes and dunks above the rim.

Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the current holders of the Jay Bilas Belt for their wingspan. And each game they play, it seems like they provide is with more amazing feats of what someone with seemingly limitless reach can do.

Let this be your reminder:

Or when Antetokounmpo does things like this:

And then there are the things Anthony Davis does. Like this:

Not the kind of plays that make you stand up and say, “Whoa.” But these are the kind of plays that just make players like Antetokounmpo and Davis look like they are floating through the air. They have the ability to defy gravity.

So too do the New Orleans Pelicans apparently. They picked up their first win 112-106 over the Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Davis scored 32 points and eight rebounds in this first win. Antetokounmpo scored 17 points to go with 10 rebounds in the loss.

They shook hands from opposite 3-point lines after the game.

Maybe this is good for the Heat

By Chris Manning (@cwmwrites)

The split between the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade was both unexpected and tense. It became a bit awkward on Thursday when Wade made his first return to Miami, to play against a Heat team that has taken on a whole different look without him.

In a different world, one where Pat Riley doesn’t take months to send him an e-mail ,or the two don’t publicly take jabs at each other, maybe Wade is still in a Heat jersey right now. If that’s the case, maybe the Heat are better this year. Maybe they look like a team who can sneak into the playoffs or at least can run competent sets at the end of games.

But maybe these Heat — who lost 98-95 last night — are better off without Wade. Their current roster isn’t necessarily full of future franchise cornerstones, but there are players on the team right now that can be. Players like Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson and maybe Hassan Whiteside have the potential to lead the next really good Heat team. And right now, they have a chance to learn on the job. With Wade, they probably still would have. But not to this extent, not to the point where they have a chance to decide the outcome of each game night in and night out.

If there’s one player that’s benefited the most, it’s Winslow. In his second year, he’s not quite there yet; his shot is shaky, his dribbling is iffy and he still has a ways to go before he reaches whatever his ceiling ends up being.

Related Story: Could the New Orleans Pelicans trade Anthony Davis?

But games and experiences like Thursday are what can help push him towards the next level. On one end, he guarded Jimmy Butler and tried to keep the Bulls from scoring key buckets down the stretch. On the other, with the ball in his hands, he was attacking off the dribble, taking threes and being asked to help the Heat win a game in the final few moments. In 38 minutes, 15 points on 6-12 shooting (including 3-5 from three) to go with six assists and five rebounds are great numbers for Winslow even in a losing effort.

Ask yourself this: does he get that chance if Wade is still his teammate? Having a mentor like Wade certainly is valuable in its own way. But getting to chance to learn by doing might be better than learning by watching.