Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks in its fourth of five preseason games on Wednesday night to complete a preseason back-to-back set at Kaseya Center. The Heat (3-1) closes its preseason schedule on Friday against the Grizzlies in Memphis, Tenn.
Even on the second night of a preseason back-to-back set following Tuesday’s preseason home win over the San Antonio Spurs, the Heat again played its projected opening-night starting lineup.
The Heat began its third straight preseason game with its preferred starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo. These three games are the first three that this five-man group has ever played together.
Like their first two games together, the results were positive on Wednesday. The Heat’s starting lineup outscored the Hawks by eight points in 21 minutes together.
“Just getting that chemistry, just playing super hard on the ball, off the ball, defensively being connected,” Rozier said when asked about the Heat’s starters playing extended minutes on the second night of a preseason back-to-back. “So no matter if it’s a back to back, trying to make up for it. We got a lot of guys just being active and stuff like that and feed off that energy.”
The Heat’s starters built a 22-21 lead in the first 8:54 of the opening quarter during their first shift of the game.
The Heat starting unit’s second stint of the night came in the second quarter, outscoring the Hawks 22-19 in the final 7:25 of the first half.
The Heat’s starting group then opened the second half for the second straight game, outscoring the Hawks 12-8 in the first 4:36 of the third quarter during its final stint of the night (and possibly of this preseason).
Butler was the catalyst against the Hawks, finishing with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 shooting on threes and 6-of-8 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 21 minutes.
“Super efficient,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s performance. “Activity level defensively, too. Yeah, he’s a super unique player, how he can do both things at such an elite level and doing it in just 21 minutes. Each one of the starters have had their moments in the preseason at some point. Jimmy just wanted to make sure that he had a couple moments tonight.”
Herro added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, five assists and one steal in 23 minutes.
Adebayo ended the night with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting on threes, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in 23 minutes.
Jovic contributed five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, one rebound and three assists in 24 minutes.
Rozier recorded six points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 shooting on threes, four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 23 minutes.
The Heat’s preferred starting lineup is a plus 12 through its first three games together this preseason.
Star guard Trae Young logged 17 minutes for the Hawks, finishing with 10 points and seven assists against the Heat.
The Heat wants a more available Butler this season. So far, so good.
After not playing in any preseason games last year, Butler has played in each of the Heat’s first four preseason games this year. Those four games are the most Butler has played during a single preseason in his six seasons with the Heat.
Through the first four preseason games this year, Butler has averaged 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, two assists and two steals per contest while shooting 64 percent from the field and 3 of 6 (50 percent) from three-point range.
Butler even had some fun in his fourth appearance of the preseason on Wednesday, mimicking Rozier’s look for games. Like Rozier, Butler wore sleeves on his left leg and left arm, a wristband on his right wrist and purple sneakers to play against the Hawks.
“I thought it was cool, I thought it was dope,” Rozier said with a smile when asked about Butler’s decision to copy his look. “He was trolling, but it was funny.”
Butler, 35, missed 20 or more regular-season games for the third time in the past four seasons last regular season because of injuries and other reasons. He also was not available for the Heat’s short-lived five-game playoff run last season because of a sprained MCL in his right knee that he sustained during the NBA’s play-in tournament.
The Heat’s hope is that Butler will be able to stay healthy to maximize his availability this season. This preseason is an encouraging start for Butler, who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer with a $52.4 million player option in his contract for next season.
There was a small twist to the Heat’s bench rotation on Wednesday.
The first five players used off the Heat’s bench on Wednesday were Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith, Alec Burks and Thomas Bryant. After Burks picked up three fouls in six minutes, Smith entered early in the second quarter as the Heat’s 11th man.
Those were the only six Heat reserves used in Wednesday’s first half.
The one notable name missing from that list is Kevin Love, who is expected to begin the season as the Heat’s backup center. Love entered the game for his first action of the night with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
Love, Pelle Larsson, Kel’el Ware, Keshad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens and Josh Christopher all entered for the Heat in the second half.
Highsmith was the star of the night for the Heat’s bench unit, totaling 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes in 17 minutes. He also was tasked with guarding Young for a chunk of his minutes.
“I say this as such a high compliment, he’s the utility infielder,” Spoelstra said of Highsmith. “You can plug him in a lot of different places defensively and he makes your defense better. He can guard, on certain occasions, one through five. He’s a very disciplined system defender, as well. He’s in the right spots. And then he’s got so much more active defensively, he’s become a playmaker, as well.
“Offensively, his game has grown tremendously. He’s a great three-point shooter now. But he’s also really good cutting behind the ball.”
Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin and Warren Washington were the only available Heat players who did not appear in Wednesday’s game.
The only unavailable Heat player against the Hawks was Josh Richardson, who continues to recover from right shoulder surgery that he underwent in March.
The Heat continues to follow the analytics with its shot chart this preseason.
One of the noticeable changes from last season has been the Heat’s shot chart this preseason. After relying on a high volume of midrange shots (one of the least efficient shots in the sport) last season, an emphasis is being made to produce a more efficient shot chart this season by taking fewer midrange attempts and more shots at the rim and from three-point range.
This shift began weeks ago when the Heat’s coaching staff adjusted the scoring format in scrimmages during training camp to make layups and dunks worth three points, three-pointers worth three points and midrange shots count for just one point.
This approach has been on display all preseason, as the Heat entered Wednesday averaging the third-most shot attempts at the rim and ninth-most three-point attempts per game in the NBA this preseason. Miami has also taken the sixth-fewest non-paint midrange two-point shots per game in the league during the exhibition schedule.
That trend continued against the Hawks, as the Heat attempted 45 shots from inside the paint and 42 from three point range. Only three of the Heat’s 90 field-goal attempts on Wednesday were non-paint midrange twos.
The Heat hopes a more efficient shot chart results in more efficient offensive production. Miami has finished with a bottom-10 offensive rating in each of the last two seasons.
“I just like the intention and the ball is moving,” Spoelstra said when asked about the Heat’s offensive process this preseason. “It’s a lot harder to guard when you don’t know where it’s going to go. We know where we want it to go, but then there has to be a freedom to make decisions and everybody has to be a live option.
“We have a lot of weapons on this team and if we’re not utilizing that by moving the ball, passing the ball, finding the open man, finding the advantage then what’s the point of having all the weapons. You can’t just build a great offense on paper, there has to be a collaboration. Guys have to have intention to make it work and play to how we want to. From the first day of camp to now, the guys have been open minded about it and setting the foundation. We just have to continue to get better with it.”
The Heat also continues to play an ultra-aggressive style on defense, forcing its opponent into 20-plus turnovers in each of the first four preseason games. That has the Heat with the NBA’s highest opponent turnover percentage (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) at 21.5 percent this preseason.
Don’t expect many of the Heat’s regulars to play in the Heat’s regular-season finale in Memphis.
Most of the Heat’s regulars have played in each of the first four preseason games. But the expectation is that some (or most) will get the night off in the fifth and final preseason game on Friday against the Grizzlies.
Among those who have played in each of the Heat’s first four preseason games are Adebayo, Butler, Rozier, Jovic, Smith, Robinson, Love, Christopher, Ware, Larsson and Bryant. Herro and Jaquez have played in each of the last three preseason games after missing the preseason opener last week because of groin injuries.
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