In the lane

TRAVELING MEN: If you think you saw referees actually whistling traveling during the preseason, you are correct, with calls way up compared to last season. It is an issue the Heat reviewed with referee Scott Foster during the final week of the preseason. Now, the question is whether the emphasis continues into the season. “That’s affecting the flow,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And everybody needs to be more mindful of before-the-play travels, those quick catch-and-goes, as a defender is closing in on you. And that’s where ours have been.” Spoelstra said the Heat have made that their own point of emphasis. “We’ve been drilling that and working on it,” he said. “It’s good that it came from the officials, so it’s not just coach-speak. But our guys have seen it called during the preseason. We’ll have to adjust to that.”

NEW REALITY: The Heat’s focus, Spoelstra emphasized, remains defense. But, yes, he has come around to the reality you have to be able to score at a consistent clip in today’s NBA. “I said, ‘Welcome to this new NBA,’ ” he told his players before the Heat went out and lost, 144-133, to the Rockets in the preseason finale. “This game is changing, got to adapt to it. I think we have the personnel, speed and quickness, the versatility to be able to handle this new game. And on the other side of the ball, I think we can present some challenges for teams playing against us.”

THE BUTLER BOOK: Jimmy Butler said he made it clear upon his Heat arrival that he wanted to get the book on everyone on his new team, from summer-league standout

Kendrick Nunn to first-round pick Tyler Herro. “When I was talking to coach about it, the day that I got here, I told him to send me film on everybody,” Butler said. “Even if it was K-Nunn in summer league or Tyler in college. Whatever it was. I’ve obviously played against so many of these guys. But just lock in and trying to make sure they can stick to their strengths. And they do the same for me. We try to hide each other’s weaknesses to the best of our abilities. I lock in and I pay attention to them because I got to know those guys before I can know who we’re going against.”

JIMMY WHO?: Josh Richardson, acquired in the offseason in the Butler trade, continues to be regarded as practically a revelation by the Philadelphia 76ers. “He plays with a charisma,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told The Athletic. “He plays with a personality. He’s got a bounce.” Brown went as far as to compare the former Heat guard to a pair of former Heat guards — Bruce Bowen and Gary

Payton. “I said it before, I’ll say it again, Philadelphia’s going to love him,” Brown said. “They really are. He is so built for Philly. He plays hard. He’s got no back-down. He’s got swagger. I just think he’s just a really important piece to what we’re doing.”

WAITING GAME: Whether Hassan Whiteside is ready for the Portland Trail Blazers opener is now in question for the former Heat center, who was hobbled throughout the preseason by ankle issues. Whiteside was somewhat optimistic before his latest sprain when he said, “just get back into that game shape and get back to feeling like my normal self. I’m just building my wind back and building up my spring, that spring that gives me the dunks and gives me the blocks.” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said Whiteside already had fallen behind. “The days that he missed hurt, both from a physical standpoint and from just picking up things,” Stotts said. “One of the reasons you practice is that it’s easier to learn on the court, rather than standing on the sidelines watching.”

NUMBER

5. Most 3-pointers by a Heat player on opening night ( Gerald Green, in 2015), should Tyler Herro decide to exhibit his range in Wednesday’s opener against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies. Herro closed the preseason with four 3-pointers against the Rockets.