How Heat’s new starting lineup fared, roster news and other takeaways from preseason finale
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-103 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night at FTX Arena to close the preseason at 4-1. The Heat now has a week off before hosting the Chicago Bulls next Wednesday to open the regular season:
The Heat used its preseason finale as the dress rehearsal for the regular season and it featured the first extended look at the projected starting lineup for opening night. The debut was a success.
The Heat used a starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo on Wednesday.
If this group holds, there will be two new Heat starters this season: Herro, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season, and Martin, who played primarily as a reserve last season. Herro is in the spot that Max Strus occupied in the starting lineup at the end of last season and Martin is filling the void in the starting lineup that P.J. Tucker left behind when he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this past summer.
Because of the way the Heat navigated its five-game preseason schedule, Wednesday marked the first time this five-man lineup has played together this preseason.
In fact, this group only played 17 minutes together last regular season and was outscored by 15 points during that limited time. They did not play together at all in the playoffs.
But it looked like they had been playing for years on Wednesday, when the Heat’s starters outscored the Pelicans 60-48 in 20 minutes together in the preseason finale.
“We’ve been working through it a little bit throughout training camp in the Bahamas and then the time we’ve had together during this whole couple of weeks when training camp started,” Herro said when asked about the starting group. ”That’s kind of been the group that has played together.”
The Heat’s new starting lineup was excellent early, opening the game on a 29-16 run. But the Pelicans made a run to cut the deficit to 29-25 when the Heat made its first substitution with 2:55 left in the first quarter.
The group’s next action together came late in the second half, when the Heat’s new starting lineup outscored the Pelicans 11-9 over the final 3:48 of the first half to enter halftime with an eight-point lead.
The Heat’s starters then came out to begin the second half, opening the third quarter on a 20-14 run to extend the lead to 14 before Heat coach Erik Spoelstra turned to the bench. The lineup didn’t play together again for the rest of the game.
There were catch-and-shoot Herro threes, lobs from Herro to Adebayo, Martin blowbys and threes, Butler post-ups, a few Lowry makes and more.
“It looks beautiful to me,” Adebeyo said following the Heat starting lineup’s preseason debut. “It definitely felt comfortable for all of us.”
Adebayo closed the game with 25 points while shooting 8 of 12 from the field and 9 of 12 from the foul line, four rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 25 minutes.
Herro recorded 23 points while shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 5 of 7 on threes, four rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes.
Butler ended the night with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds and six assists in 25 minutes.
Martin closed with nine points while shooting 3 of 7 from the field and 1 of 3 on threes, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 24 minutes.
Lowry finished with an odd stat line of five points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, nine rebounds, one assist and two steals in 25 minutes.
Although it was their first minutes together this preseason, the group’s work behind closed doors in practices over the last two weeks was evident because they were sharp.
“This is all part of the process of being open minded to how our team will be different and this is just the beginning,” Spoelstra said. “We don’t even know where the other differences will show themselves as we get into the season.”
The Heat’s preseason dress rehearsal also offered a glimpse at what could be the Heat’s bench rotation to begin the regular season.
With Spoelstra using a 11-man rotation in the first half on Wednesday, the first five players used off the Heat’s bench were Gabe Vincent, Dewayne Dedmon, Max Strus, Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson. Then Spoelstra turned to 19-year-old rookie Nikola Jovic as the 11th man in the preseason finale, subbing in Jovic with 8:55 left in the second quarter.
The first five off the Heat’s bench in the second half on Wednesday were again Vincent, Dedmon, Strus, Oladipo and Robinson. Jovic also again entered as the 11th man with 6:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.
This likely means that some combination among Vincent, Dedmon, Strus, Oladipo and Robinson will make up the Heat’s bench rotation to open the season.
Strus scored the most points off the Heat’s bench on Wednesday, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range and two assists in 17 minutes.
It appears that forward Haywood Highsmith won’t open the season as part of the Heat’s rotation.
Among the 14 Heat players signed to standard contracts, the 11-man rotation in Wednesday’s first half left out Udonis Haslem, Omer Yurtseven and Highsmith. Haslem (right Achilles tendinits) and Yurtseven (left ankle soreness) were out because of injuries, while Highsmith simply didn’t enter the game until there was 5:57 left in the fourth quarter.
Highsmith, who has been competing for a spot in the Heat’s rotation, has had a quiet preseason after a strong showing in summer league.
Highsmith entered Wednesday averaging seven points on 40 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent shooting from three-point range, five rebounds and two assists in his first four preseason appearances. The Heat was outscored by 9.5 points per 100 possessions during that time.
In the preseason finale, Highsmith finished with three points on 1-of-2 shooting from deep and one assist while playing the final 5:57.
But it does seem that Jovic has at least a chance of getting some playing time early in his rookie season.
The assumption entering training camp was that this would just be a developmental year for Jovic, who was selected with the No. 27 pick in this year’s draft out of Serbia. But Jovic has been a preseason revelation because of his intriguing combination of skill and size.
Jovic was used in the first half on Wednesday off the Heat’s bench and remained in the game long enough to play alongside four Heat starters — Adebayo, Butler, Herro and Lowry — for a few minutes. It didn’t last long, though, because Jovic was called for three fouls in five minutes.
Still, Jovic did enough in preseason practices and games to earn an opportunity to play with the Heat’s starters for a short stretch in the final preseason game. That says a lot for a player who some pegged for the G League this season.
Jovic entered Wednesday averaging 10.8 points while shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 8 of 23 (34.8 percent) from three-point range, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his first four preseason appearances. And the Heat won those minutes, outscoring opponents by a team-best 28.5 points per 100 possessions with Jovic on the court in those games.
Jovic recorded six points while shooting 1 of 3 on threes and 3 of 4 from the foul line, four rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes in the preseason finale.
Maybe Jovic still eventually finds himself in the G League during his rookie campaign. But following Jovic’s impressive preseason, a spot in the rotation at some point this season shouldn’t be ruled out.
The Heat switched out another two-way contract ahead of the regular season.
With Marcus Garrett sidelined for at least four weeks because of a fractured right wrist, the Heat waived him following Wednesday’s preseason finale.
The Heat then converted guard Dru Smith’s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal to fill the two-way contract slot that Garrett previously occupied.
Smith now joins forward Jamal Cain as the Heat’s two two-way contract players. Cain was converted to a two-way deal on Sunday.
Two-way contracts can be swapped out at any time.
Smith earned the promotion with a strong preseason, averaging 7.4 points while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in five preseason appearances.
Two-way contracts do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax and allow for players to be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games, with other game action having to come in the G League. Those on two-way deals are not eligible to take part in the NBA playoffs.
Smith, who went undrafted last year out of Missouri, played in three summer league games with the Heat in July and averaged 12 points, three steals, 1.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. He appeared in 10 games (five starts) with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, last season and averaged eight points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 27.5 minutes.
The Heat also made some other roster moves late Wednesday night. Along with releasing Garrett, Miami waived Exhibit 10 contract players Mychal Mulder, Orlando Robinson and Jamaree Bouyea as expected to get its roster down to the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players on standard contracts and two players on two-way contracts.
The Heat will enter the season with 14 players on standard deals and two players on two-way deals, as it stands just about $200,000 away from the luxury tax threshold.
Mulder, Robinson and Bouyea are now expected to transition to the Heat’s G League affiliate, and Garrett will remain around the team to rehab his wrist injury.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 9:59 PM.
