A little over a year ago, the Miami Heat adapted a new offensive style that included faster pace, less screening, more isolation, and quicker shot attempts in the front end of the 24 second shot clock.

It got Miami out to a blazing start with an undermanned roster early in the year last season, and it showed some promising things in preseason as the quicker pace leans in the direction of the group's new superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Anytime the Greek Freak gets a step downhill with the ball in his hands, it's pretty much over for the defense with the result being a highlight dunk, a trip to the free throw line, or an open three for one of his teammates.

Threes weren't dropping as often in the Heat's season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, as Anthony Edwards had more threes made himself than the entire Heat team.

Even with that said, the offense wasn't the problem. But that offensive style could be leading to the problems on the other end of the floor.

This Heat roster should not struggle on the defensive end. Names like Antetokounmpo to Bam Adebayo to Andrew Wiggins to Davion Mitchell. It's been clear coming out of camp the group's identity must be defense.

But an interesting choice to sit back in drop coverage early in game one allowed the Timberwolves' two flamethrowers, in Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball, to really get going from deep.

They got comfortable rolling into those pull-up triples as Adebayo or Antetokounmpo were forced to sag back, while Rudy Gobert continually rescreened until one of those guys found a sliver of space.

Schematically, it wasn't their greatest choice. Seeing shots drop early led to confidence rising for a team that doesn't lack confidence in the first place.

But as I said before, is it all on scheme, or is the Heat's style of offense leading to some of this as well?

Not an easy mission

It's an insanely tough task and balance to be a defensive oriented team, while also being the fastest team in pace. Running off live ball turnovers is one thing. But trying to score in the first eight seconds of the shot clock each possession just leads to a quicker inbound going back in your direction.

Especially against teams like Minnesota that can play just as fast, and essentially beat you at your own game, it can catch up to you rather quickly.

There's going to be certain nights, and against certain teams, where it'll be needed for Miami to settle in a bit more and play in the half-court so that their defense does the dictating.

Now, of course, when you have probably the greatest transition player in NBA history on your team, you need to run when those opportunities present themselves.

But also this team has an identity. They have a theme. They have a direction that needs to be leaned on, and it starts with the end of the floor that the majority of their starters hang their hat on.

This is going to be an interesting balance for Erik Spoelstra and the staff to navigate, but it's pretty clear that it'll be tough to sustain both the scoring speed and the elite, elite defense at the same time.