Takeaways from Heat’s dress rehearsal preseason game and Adebayo-Butler-Lowry trio’s debut
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 113-106 win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night at Toyota Center to begin the preseason with a 2-0 record. It looked to be a dress rehearsal game for the regular season, as the Heat used its projected starting lineup and rotation in the first half:
The first look at the Heat’s projected starting lineup was encouraging.
After Jimmy Butler sat out Monday’s preseason opener, Butler played Thursday to offer a glimpse at what’s expected to be Miami’s starting lineup to begin the regular season.
Butler started alongside Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker and Bam Adebayo.
This five-man group was on the court for the first 6:41 of the game, playing to a 17-17 tie. They were extremely active defensively, as expected, and looked sharp on offense.
With the starters on the court during that seven-minute stretch, the Heat shot 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) from the field and dished out seven assists. Lowry generated much of that ball movement with five of those assists, and his first two of the night resulted in an Adebayo transition dunk and a Butler layup off a cut to the basket.
But there were some miscues along the way, as Miami also committed five turnovers in the first 6:41 of the game.
“I think it all went well. We did what we set out to do, obviously to win the game,” Butler said. “But I think everybody is still getting a feel when each other is out there on the court. Where everybody is going to be, what they’re going to do. We had some careless turnovers. But we just haven’t played that much together. We have plenty of practice time to get this straightened before this thing really takes off.”
Defensively, the Heat’s starting lineup looked as advertised — very active and disruptive. The Rockets were forced into seven turnovers during that stretch.
“We’ve been able to see it on our practice court, but it was good to see the guys out there, especially the first half,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I thought there was a lot of good things. The defensive activity, the disruptiveness is something that we want to do, and turn around those stops, deflections, rebounds into early offense.”
The Heat’s starters also played the final 3:54 of the first half, with the Rockets narrowly winning those minutes 13-12. The lineup did not play together in the second half, as Adebayo, Butler, Lowry and Tucker were given the final two quarters off.
On Thursday, though, it was less about the score and more about how in sync Miami’s starting group already looks.
Adebayo finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 14 first-half minutes.
Butler ended the night with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, two rebounds and one steal in 16 first-half minutes.
Robinson shot 5 of 11 on threes to finish with 20 points in 24 minutes.
The Heat also used its projected bench rotation for the regular season in Thursday’s preseason game.
Guard Tyler Herro was the first reserve who entered the contest, followed by forward Markieff Morris, center Dewayne Dedmon and wing Max Strus.
Those were the only four reserves Miami played in the first half, going with a nine-man rotation in the first two quarters that essentially could be the Heat’s rotation on opening night.
Herro was again impressive, following up his 26-point performance to open the preseason with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 shooting on threes and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line in a sixth man role on Thursday. He has scored 50 points on 64 percent shooting in the first two preseason games.
“He has really improved all across the board. His skill level is extremely high,” Spoelstra said of Herro.
Morris contributed six points, three rebounds and three assists but missed each of his three three-point attempts in 21 minutes.
Dedmon finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, eight rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes.
It wasn’t Strus’ best shooting night, as he scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting from three-point range.
Lowry again managed to make a big impact without scoring many points.
That’s a trait Lowry, 35, possessed long before landing with the Heat this offseason and it has been on full display to begin the preseason.
After finishing the preseason opener with five points on 1-of-4 shooting, Lowry scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 shooting on threes Thursday. He actually didn’t attempt his first shot in Houston until there was 9:38 left in the second quarter.
But Lowry left his imprint on Thursday’s game in other ways, finishing with five rebounds, 10 assists and four steals in 19 first-half minutes. He also took a charge before sitting out the second half.
“It shows you his versatility,” Spoelstra said. “He can be effective with his passing, with his defense, with his scoring. All of these things are what make him such a great quarterback, and you saw all of that really the first half — the 10 assists and the pace and getting the ball to the guys.”
Lowry has totaled nine rebounds, 17 assists, five steals and just four turnovers in 34 minutes over the first two preseason games. He has posted a plus/minus of plus-16.
“I love it. He’s in it to win it,” Butler said. “Everything that he does out there on the floor is for the final outcome. That’s just to win the game.”
Lowry said after Thursday’s game that his Heat transition has been “pretty smooth.”
“I kind of thought I knew what I was getting into, and that’s why I signed here,” said Lowry, who spent the past nine seasons with the Toronto Raptors. “But some of the stuff about the culture, and Spo will say it, some of the stuff is a myth. Some of it is. It has been fun. It has been a smooth, easy transition. It hasn’t been too crazy like people probably think it is. I get those questions all the time. ‘How is it? How is it?’ It’s cool. Great organization, great coaching staff, great team.”
A few Heat players were unavailable for the dress rehearsal game.
Udonis Haslem (personal reasons), Gabe Vincent (left groin strain), Caleb Martin (right ankle sprain), Marcus Garrett (lower back spasms) and Victor Oladipo (right knee surgery rehabilitation) were not available for the Heat in Houston.
Vincent, Martin and Garrett traveled with the team on the trip and their status for Friday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs on the second night of a back to-back set remains unknown, with more clarity expected Friday afternoon. Haslem and Oladipo did not travel with the Heat.
Haslem has been away from the Heat since the start of training camp in the wake of the recent passing of his father, Johnnie Haslem. But in an Instragram post Thursday, Haslem said he will be rejoining the team “soon.”
With five players out, Miami had 15 players available for Thursday’s contest. Fourteen got into the game for the Heat, with Exhibit 10 center Micah Potter as the only available player who did not enter the contest.
The Rockets cut the Heat’s 21-point lead to five multiple times in the final minute of the game with Miami’s developmental players on the court.
KZ Okpala finished with four points on 1-of-3 shooting from deep, four rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes.
Omer Yurtseven recorded eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and four rebounds in 14 minutes.
The Rockets were without Eric Gordon (left ankle soreness).
Friday’s game in San Antonio will likely be the opposite of a dress rehearsal for the Heat.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the expectation is that most of Miami’s rotation players who played in Thursday’s game will not play against the Spurs.
That could mean a night off for Adebayo, Butler, Lowry and others in San Antonio, with that to be determined on Friday.
Following Friday’s matchup against the Spurs, the Heat has a few days off before playing its fourth of six preseason games on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 12:39 AM.
