How the Heat rallied to remain undefeated in the preseason, and takeaways from the win
The Miami Heat’s preseason winning streak continues.
After opening the preseason with three consecutive wins, the Heat won its fourth straight with a 104-103 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night at FTX Arena behind a dramatic comeback sparked by some of its youngest and most inexperienced players.
The Heat trailed by 13 points with 4:19 to play, but closed the game on a 16-2 run to escape with the win. Miami went with a lineup that included 23-year-old center Omer Yurtseven, two-way contract guard Marcus Garrett and Exhibit 10 players Micah Potter, D.J. Stewart and Javonte Smart for most of that late-game run.
“The young guys came in and they just were really inspiring with their play, their energy, their passion,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That was a lot of fun for everybody in the locker room, and the fans.”
Yurtseven played the final seven minutes of the contest and was impressive with eight points and eight rebounds. Smart scored six points during his five-minute stint to close the game, including a game-winning three-point play on an and-one layup with 7.8 seconds left.
“It was an amazing feeling. Just getting a W,” Smart said. “Going out there and playing hard with however many minutes you get.”
The Heat didn’t have Jimmy Butler in the victory because of cold-like symptoms, but the team’s other two leading men, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry, did play. Adebayo and Lowry played into the second half for the first time this season.
Adebayo finished with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, five rebounds, one assist and one block.
Lowry recorded 15 points with the help of 4-of-8 shooting on threes, three rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Adebayo and Lowry did not play in the fourth quarter.
“I thought this was a really good game for us for a lot of different reasons,” Spoelstra said. “We were able to get another quarter with our rotation, able to work through some things when shots aren’t falling.”
It was also an encouraging night for Heat reserve Markieff Morris. The veteran forward, who signed with Miami as a free agent this summer, turned in his best performance of the preseason with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds.
The Heat (4-0) closes its six-game preseason schedule with a back-to-back set that begins Thursday night against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s preseason win over the Hornets:
The Heat has still only had its full projected starting lineup together for one preseason game.
That’s in part because Butler has played in just one of the first four preseason games. He missed the Heat’s first and third preseason games for rest purposes.
“He wasn’t feeling well yesterday,” Spoelstra said of Butler before Monday’s game. “He feels about the same today.”
The only game that the lineup of Lowry, Butler, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker and Adebayo started was the Heat’s road win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday. That group played about 11 minutes together in that contest.
The Heat still has two preseason games remaining — Thursday on the road against the Hawks and Friday at home against the Boston Celtics — to give that starting group more time together prior to the Oct. 21 regular-season opener.
“We’ve had a few in practice, and we’ll just continue to take this day by day,” Spoelstra said when asked if the Heat needs a preseason dress rehearsal game before the regular season. “We have [two] more games. We’re focused on tonight and who’s available, and then we’ll get going on the next practice day.”
The Heat was also without KZ Okpala (right Achilles inflammation) and Victor Oladipo (right knee surgery rehabilitation) on Monday.
“He’s been able to handle the workload of training camp. It’s a little sore today,” Spoelstra said Monday of Okpala. “He went through the shootaround. We just think it’s smart just to give him a day off and see how he feels tomorrow.”
With Butler out, two-way contract wing Caleb Martin got the opportunity to start against his former team ... and twin brother.
Caleb, who signed a two-way contract with the Heat in September, spent the past two seasons on the Hornets’ 15-man roster after going undrafted in 2019 out of Nevada. He also spent the past two seasons as roommates and teammates with his twin brother, Cody Martin, before Charlotte waived Caleb in August.
Playing on opposite sides is new for the Martin brothers, who spent their entire college careers and first two NBA seasons together.
Caleb, who missed the previous two preseason games because of a sprained right ankle, got the start Monday in place of Butler. Caleb began the game alongside the Heat’s other four projected starters in Lowry, Robinson, Tucker and Adebayo.
“With Jimmy out, I thought that Caleb could give us the closest facsimile to how we could play with that unit,” Spoelstra said of starting Caleb. “I knew that that would be an important game for him and it’s a pretty cool story line.”
And Cody started for the shorthanded Hornets, who were missing three projected starters on Monday.
Caleb and Cody were matched up for most of the minutes they shared the court, which shouldn’t be a surprise since they’re twins and listed as the same exact size at 6-5 and 205 pounds.
“It was just a little weird at first,” Caleb said. “Seeing him, it just kind of put into perspective that I’m not with him anymore and that I’m in different colors and stuff like that. But the emotion was cool.”
Caleb finished with three points on 1-of-5 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and one block in 15 minutes for the Heat. Cody scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Hornets.
“I’m not surprised Miami picked him up,” Hornets coach James Borrego said of Caleb. “I think he fits a lot of the culture and the pieces that Miami looks for. He cares, he plays hard, he brings it every day. He’s a two-way player.”
Caleb said minutes after the game that his mother had already texted him regarding the experience of watching her sons face off.
“Just kind of like a moment of realization for them, too, that they’re going to have to be 50-50 now,” Caleb said with a smile.
Adebayo has been very efficient on the offensive end this preseason.
Through the Heat’s first four preseason games, Adebayo has totaled 47 points on 31 shots. He has played in three of the four games, averaging 15.7 points on 64.5 percent shooting.
Adebayo has yet to attempt a three during the preseason, but he has looked more comfortable in the post and continues to improve as a midrange shooter.
“Everybody sees it,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s growing offensive game. “It’s the assertiveness on the catch and different areas on the floor. But he’s been very intentional and diligent this summer working around the USA commitment, working with [assistant coaches Malik Allen and Caron Butler]. Every day, just working on his skill set.”
On Monday, Adebayo shot 4 of 6 on jumpers and 6 of 12 on non-rim paint shots. He has made two of his three midrange shots this preseason.
“That’s the point of the offseason, to come back a better player and that’s my progression,” Adebayo said. “Still trying to figure it out. Staying aggressive and keep getting more advanced.”
It’s only the preseason, but Lowry looks to be in regular-season form.
Not only did Lowry draw his second charge of the preseason on Monday, he also was called for a technical after arguing with an official in the second quarter.
Lowry, 35, has played in three of the Heat’s four preseason games. After totaling just seven points on eight shots in his first two exhibition games, he logged preseason highs in points (15), shots made (5), shot attempts (12), threes made (4), threes attempted (8) and minutes (26) on Monday.
“I just want to win games,” Lowry said when asked about his feistiness during games. “If I’m going to be out there, I’m going to give it my all. I don’t go into games thinking I’m going to say this to the official. I go into a game just like, let’s go out there and play, but sometimes things happen. Conversations happen.”
The Heat’s bench rotation looks like it’s pretty much set.
The starting lineup seems to be locked in, and so does the bench rotation. When they’re all available, Spoelstra has consistently used Tyler Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Morris, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent as his top five reserves.
That was again the case Monday, with Spoelstra using a 10-man rotation in the first half and those five players entering off the bench.
Herro, who entered Monday averaging a league-high 25.3 points per game on 56 percent shooting during the preseason, finished with seven points on 3-of-15 shooting against the Hornets.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 10:04 PM.
