IN THE LANE

CROWDERRISESASSUN: JaeCrowder quicklywas embraced by his newHeat teammates upon his acquisition last season fromtheMemphis Grizzlies, and that again has proven to be the case with his offseasonmove to the Phoenix Suns in free agency. Suns centerDeandreAyton said he was blownaway by Crowder’s understanding of the game during Crowder’s Phoenix debut, which came against the Los Angeles Lakers, the teamtheHeat lost to in the Finals.“You can tell that dude has been that guy in theNBAFinals,” Ayton said after the exhibition.“That’s all I can say, the shots and the way hewas locked in and talking, knowing the whole team’s personnel. He knewtheir whole offense. Like, hewas calling it out.” Ayton said it helped that Crowder stepped up to take the defensive assignment againstAnthonyDavis.“I just felt comfortable on the court. I never felt so comfortable,” Ayton said.“Knowing that I’m not onAD, somebody else is onAD, somebody else is on LeBron [James], I felt comfortable. I felt like just grab this rebound and go, just knowing that Jae just had it down, he just had it down. It’s perfect. That’s a vet for you. He protected me, when I’m supposed to be protecting him.”

OUTSIDESHOT: TheHeat sawthe potential ofDerrick Jones Jr. as a 3-and-D threat and nowthe PortlandTrail Blazers are hopeful of such a result.“You knowhowwe are here, we try to encourage guys to improve their shooting,” said Blazers coach TerryStotts, whose teamaddedJones in free agency,“But honestly, I think he has a good stroke. I like hismechanics. I think the ball comes offhis handswell. It wouldn’t surprisemeif he has a career year shooting the ball here.” Jones shot .280on3-pointers last season, downfrom .308 the prior season, but still a jump fromhis .167 in his first Heat season in 2917-18.

NEWWORLD: Back in the gameasNewOrleans Pelican coach, formerHeat coachStanVanGundy said he felt in an alternate universe with benches configured so differently, due to the pandemic, when heworked lastweek at AmericanAirlinesArena.“Itwasweird to me,” he said.“I’m somebodywho likes to turn and talk to the players on the bench a lot. Theywere a longway away. Nowyou’ve got to walk all theway down the sideline. Thatwasweird for me. I like to point things out to the people on the bench. Sowe’re learning aswe go.”

NEXTGEN: TheHouston Rockets quickly are becoming the NBA’s next-generation team. Not only are they coached by StephenSilas, son of formerNBApower forwardPaulSilas, and not only did they last month draft KenyonMartin Jr., son of formerNBAforward KenyonMartin, but this pastweek they also signed TreyMourning, son of formerHeat center AlonzoMourning, in order to funnel him to theirGLeague affiliate. The youngerMourning, who followed in his father’s footsteps by playing at Georgetown, spent last season with theHeat’sGLeague affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Due to the pandemic, theHeat do not plan to field aGLeague team this season.

NEWROLE: The Clippers have installed formerHeat assistant DanCraig as their de facto defensive coordinator, with Tyronn Lue giving that assignment to his newassociate head coach. Elsewhere on Lue’s staff, Larry Drewwill guide the offense, RoyRogers willwork with the big men, Kenny Atkinson will be in charge of player development, with ChaunceyBillups assisting in various roles.

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5 Times in their33 seasons theHeat have opened the regular season inOrlando, including thisWednesday night, the fourth time in five years they have opened at theAmway Center. The Heat lost their season opener 104-101 onOct. 17, 2018 in theirmost recent season opener inOrlando. TheHeat also opened inOrlando in 1992 (1 10-100 loss), 2016 (108-96 victory) and 2017 (116-109 loss).