TULSA, Okla. - After watching the Heat's preseason move past the midway point Wednesday against Oklahoma City, coach Erik Spoelstra wasn't ready to offer a mid-term assessment of Michael Beasley's experiment at small forward.

But there was a progress report. In his best game of the preseason, Beasley scored a team-high 24 points, but it wasn't enough to lead the Heat to its first preseason victory. Kevin Durant scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Thunder back from a 14-point deficit to a 96-91 victory at BOK Center.

``I'm not going to give him a letter grade, but it's coming,'' Spoelstra said of Beasley. ``He's starting to recognize situations more. He tends to put himself in the right situation when he talks out there.''

For the second time in as many games, Beasley was the focal point of the offense with guard Dwyane Wade sitting out a second consecutive game to recover from a muscle strain in his left rib cage.

And for the second time, Beasley showed signs that he just might be getting the hang of this versatile gig.

After opening Sunday's against San Antonio at the power forward position he primarily played last season, Beasley shifted to small forward again Wednesday and was 9 of 13 from the field and 6 of 6 from the foul line.

But he had only four points in the fourth quarter as the Heat (0-4) remained winless.

A two-way assignment at forward that once had Beasley dizzy two weeks ago now has him dominating in stretches.

``I've been spending majority of the preseason trying to get a feel for the game on both sides of the new position,'' Beasley said. ``I wanted to make [Wednesday] the day that I got back to being aggressive.''

The development for Beasley, 20, continues to be a work in progress for the Heat on and off the court.

Already a member of the league's substance-abuse program who had to spend more than a month this summer in drug rehabilitation, Beasley was involved in another touchy situation Tuesday night.

Beasley was one of several Heat players who took part in a U-stream video at the team's hotel in Tulsa, when he responded in jest to someone on the Internet live video network who questioned Beasley's ability to hide his marijuana use.

Spoelstra said he was aware of the incident and would continue to monitor players' use of social networking media. Beasley said Wednesday he has to be more careful at all times about what he says.

The Heat is banking on Beasley to keep his focus on basketball instead of off-court distractions.

``Hopefully, now it gets to the point where he's not out there having to think too much,'' Wade said. ``Take basketball out of it and now you have to fight against overthinking everything. It's going to get to a point where he can just let his talent take over and just play.''

Beasley was motivated to turn in an impressive performance Wednesday.

The last time Beasley and Durant were matched up on the court, they combined to score 75 points during a showcase game during All-Star Weekend.

Durant set a Rookie Challenge record when he scored 46 points to lead his team of second-year players over Beasley's rookie team last February in Phoenix. Beasley led the rookie team with 29 points.

The two have been friends since elementary school. They approach their NBA showdowns the same as when they played pickup games at the Barry Farms housing projects in Washington as prep phenoms.

``We both get away from the NBA and take our minds back to what we know,'' Beasley said. ``No matter how far we go in our careers, no matter where we end up, no matter what court we're on, we're going to have those Barry Farms moments.''