SALT LAKE CITY _ There are other Eastern Conference playoff teams that can certainly field a more formidable starting group than the Heat.
But Eastern teams with a clearly better bench? It now would be difficult to make that case.
After last week's trade with Memphis, the Heat's second unit features:
_ An All-Star two seasons ago who's still at the top of his game in Goran Dragic, who ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring by a reserve at 16.1 points per game.
_ A two-time All-NBA defender and a former Finals MVP in Andre Iguodala.
_ A veteran NBA starter in Jae Crowder, who produced 39 points, 19 rebounds, and five steals in his first two games for the Heat.
_ A skilled-shooting big in Kelly Olynyk, who had 11 assists in 20 minutes on Monday and scored 14 fourth-quarter points to lead Boston to a Game 7 playoff win three years ago.
_ A cold-blooded rookie, Tyler Herro, who ranks seventh among all NBA guards in clutch shooting (52%, 12 for 23) and second among all NBA guards in clutch three-point shooting (53.3%, 8 for 15), behind only Brooklyn's Joe Harris. Herro will miss a fifth consecutive game Wednesday in Utah; he returned to Miami on Tuesday for treatment on his sore right ankle.
And Meyers Leonard or Derrick Jones Jr. would factor into that bench equation as well, depending on which player coach Erik Spoelstra opts to start. Jones started Monday in Golden State, with Leonard back home in South Florida with an ankle injury.
With this bench, "we got shooters, as Hassan (Whiteside) used to say," Dragic said after Monday's 113-101 win at Golden State. "It's easy to get inside the paint and create (with this second unit). Everybody can score; we can defend. We know we've still got a long way to go, and it will be even better."
Here's a staggering stat from the first two games with this revamped bench: In Sunday's loss to Portland, the backups had a combined plus-32 plus/minus while the starters were a combined minus-62. In Monday's win against the Warriors, the backups were a combined plus-80 while the starters were a minus-20.
In other words, on Monday, the Heat outscored Golden State by 13 with Dragic in the game, by 17 with Crowder on the floor, by 25 with Iguodala, and by 28 with Olynyk. Combine those _ and factoring in Chris Silva's minus-three in garbage time _ and that's a stunning plus-80 from the reserves.
Crowder has been better than anybody could have expected, far exceeding his production in Memphis. He's 10 for 13 on three-pointers for the Heat after shooting 29% on threes for Memphis.
"His game speaks for himself," Jimmy Butler said of his former teammate on the 2010-11 Marquette team. "What he does on both ends of the floor, how he spaces the floor, rebounds, gets everyone involved. It's great to have my sidekick back. I was Batman, he was Robin when we were at Marquette."
Iguodala is still working off the rust offensively from a long layoff _ he has taken only three shots, making two, in his first 38 minutes with Miami _ but has 11 rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block and has held the players he's defending to 2-of-6 shooting.
"I've never been around a smarter basketball player, and I've been around a lot of smart players," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Iguodala after coaching him the previous five seasons. "What makes him really unique is his brain and the combination of his fundamental base with the athleticism. He's not as athletic as he was six, seven years ago, but there is only one other guy that I think of when I think of fundamentals, the sound nature of his game with the athletic ability, and that's Scottie Pippen.
"Usually, the ones that are fundamentally sound ones are guys like us that are not that athletic. Then you have a lot of guys in this league that are Superman athletically but maybe don't have the fundamental base. Andre has had both his whole career. You combine that with his incredible brain, and he's just a step ahead of everybody all the time. That's why you see him laughing after a play. He would be a step ahead of everybody and make the play and then he would start laughing because he knew he had outsmarted everybody. He would glance over at our bench and we would nod. That would happen constantly. It's a lost art, but it will allow him to play beyond this year and into next. We absolutely miss everything he brought."
Meanwhile, Dragic has been one of the NBA's top reserves, his scoring average off the bench trails only Dennis Schroder, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Derrick Rose. His 39.2 three-point percentage is well above his 36.5 career average.
Olynyk's move back to the bench began with a 12-point, 11-assist game on Monday. "Being able to create for other people, that's what I like to do most," he said.
Soon that group will get back Herro, whose 13.1 scoring average ranks sixth among rookies.
The Raptors' bench is also very good _ often featuring Serge Ibaka, Norman Powell, Chris Boucher, and Terence Davis. But an Eastern bench clearly better than Miami's? You won't find it.
