Butler quiet in debut with Heat
It’s only the preseason, but the new-look Heat is off to an impressive start.
The Heat opened its five-game preseason with a 107-89 win over the Spurs on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami is right back at it Wednesday, traveling to take on the Hornets to complete the back-to-back set.
The Heat took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Spurs 28-18 in the period.
Here are five takeaways from Miami’s win over San Antonio to open the preseason...
1. Jimmy Butler was quiet to start his preseason debut with the Heat, but the four-time AllStar forward picked it up in the second half.
After scoring two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half, he totaled eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in the third quarter. Butler, who is the Heat’s new leading man, finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, three rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes
While the night started slow for Butler, he seemed to pick his spots when to be aggressive. Instead of forcing the issue, he found open teammates for better shots.
2. Tyler Herro is a bucket.
The Heat rookie guard has referred to himself as a “bucket” in the past for his ability to put up points.
And he certainly was a bucket in his NBA preseason debut, with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, three rebounds and three assists.
Herro, 19, played off the Heat’s bench and provided a spark with his aggressiveness and shot-making ability. He made each of his first five shots, which included two threes, and even blocked Spurs guard Bryn Forbes’ shot off the backboard in the second quarter.
3. Coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear nobody should make too much of the Heat’s starting lineup and rotation in the preseason opener.
The Heat started Justise Winslow, Butler, Duncan Robinson, Meyers Leonard and Bam Adebayo against the Spurs. This is a pretty huge lineup, with Winslow the shortest player in the group at 6-6.
The most notable omissions from the starting lineup were guards Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters. But the idea of playing Dragic and Waiters, who call themselves 7-Eleven, together off the bench is interesting. Dragic and Waiters had a lot of success in 2016-17 when both were healthy. The duo was a plus-42 in 808 minutes together that season. Maybe there’s something to playing them together as the leaders of Miami’s bench unit.
Dragic was the first player used off the Heat’s bench Tuesday. Forward Derrick Jones Jr., Herro and Waiters entered the game just minutes later as the next reserves used.
But as Spoelstra noted before Tuesday’s contest, it’s probably best not to make too much of the rotation used in the preseason opener.
4. If the preseason opener is any indication, Adebayo will definitely play a bigger role on offense this season.
Not only is Adebayo in line to be the Heat’s starting center, but it seems like his offensive role has grown entering his third NBA season, as expected. The hard screens and points around the rim were still there, but so were mid-range jumpers. Adebayo even pushed the ball in transition. Adebayo finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
5. With the Heat giving seven players more than 20 minutes of court time Tuesday, expect the others on the roster to get big minutes against the Hornets in Charlotte on the second night of a preseason back-to-back.
Most of the players expected to be in the Heat’s regular-season rotation logged extended minutes against the Spurs, which means Wednesday’s game against the Hornets could be about the players still competing for rotation spots and NBA jobs.
The list of available players who logged fewer than 10 minutes: Kendrick Nunn, KZ Okpala, Daryl Macon, Mychal Mulder, Kyle Alexander, Udonis Haslem, Jeremiah Martin and Davon Reed.