Hornets edge out Heat 111-108 in preseason opener

Heat Hornets — The Miami Heat narrowly lost their preseason opener Tuesday evening to the Charlotte Hornets. (Mandatory Credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

The Miami Heat opened the first of five games Tuesday night, this one being on the road against the Charlotte Hornets. In what came down the game’s final possession, the Hornets squeaked past the Miami Heat 111-108.

The Heat’s starters–Terry Rozier, Alec Burks, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo–only played in the first half. Adebayo led with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, though over half of his shot attempts (5) came from 3-point range, converting on two (one ATB, one corner). He also had six rebounds with one steal.

From the opening tip, Jimmy Butler came out engaged, posting 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block, finishing 3-of-6 from the floor. Jovic posted nine points, three assists and one steal in his first game back from injury, while Rozier added seven points, four boards and a pair of assists.

Burks impressed in his first Heat stint, racking up eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting with three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Heat second-round rookie Pelle Larsson impressed most in the second unit, adding 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. First-round rookie Kel’el Ware, who checked in with 4:59 in the third quarter, posted 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks (!) and two steals on 5-of-9 shooting across 17 minutes. He was arguably the biggest standout of the night–figuratively and literally.

Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc in 23 minutes; rookie Tidjane Salaun had 15 points and eight rebounds while Tre Mann scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

A total of 17 players saw the court for Miami–except Zyon Pullin and Nassir Little, who signed with the team in late September days before training camp. No Heat player appeared for more than 17 minutes, shooting 42.4 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from 3-point range.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t mix-and-match too many lineups Tuesday evening–letting certain groups figure it out for prolonged periods of time. But he has the rest of the preseason to figure that out–all in all, it was beautiful to have Miami Heat basketball back, win or lose.