Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat fall behind 21-0, lose to Magic; Quinn returns
ORLANDO — There wasn’t exactly a warm embrace for Chris Quinn when he returned Sunday to coach the Miami Heat at the Orlando Pro Summer League.
After missing Saturday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets in the Heat’s first game of the summer, Quinn was back on the bench for the Heat’s 81-68 loss to the Orlando Magic in the second of the five games on the practice court of the Magic at the Amway Center.
Quinn had missed Saturday’s 74-67 loss to participate in the Heat’s freeagency pitch at AmericanAirlines Arena to Utah Jazz free agent Gordon Hayward. Quinn, an Erik Spoelstra assistant, returned to the bench Sunday and immediately saw the Heat fall behind 21-0 to first-round pick Jonathan Isaac and the Magic.
“That’s just all a day in the job. It’s part of what we all do,” Quinn said of balancing summer league and free agent. “Watching closely yesterday from afar and then glad to join the troops today and get back in the mix. Hopefully we’ll all be better tomorrow.”
The Heat did not score until first-round pick Bam Adebayo converted a pair of free throws with 4:35 left in the opening period, trailing 32-9 going into the second period.
Juwan Howard, another Spoelstra assistant, also returned Sunday after remaining behind Saturday in South Florida. Video coordinator Eric Glass had coached the Heat in Saturday’s loss. He returned to his summer role Sunday as an assistant.
Forward Okaro White, the lone player on the Heat summer roster with NBA experience, led the Heat with 15 points. Adebayo added 14 points and nine rebounds, but shot only 4 of 16 from the field.
“It’s pretty much shoot when I’m open, making good moves, trying to get shots,” Adebayo said. “My team believes in me. I’m not going to doubt myself if my team believes in me.”
Adebayo said the pace of the NBA game has become apparent.
“There’ll be times I look up and think it’s the second half,” he said, “and it’s still the second quarter, you know, just getting used to that and the up-tempo style. If I do that, I’ll be fine.”
The Heat next play today at 5 p.m. against a similar roster of prospects from the Indiana Pacers.
The Heat announced before the game that former Nebraska swingman Shavon Shields, who had been scheduled to join the team for their games at the Las Vegas summer league no longer would be on that roster. Shields went undrafted in 2016 and played last season in Germany.