(Photo via Miami Heat/X)
Another preseason game, another loss for the Miami Heat. In an overtime matchup against the Atlanta Hawks on the road, Miami was unable to close it out— losing 119-118 and dropping to a league worst 0-5 on the preseason.
The Heat starters got some extra playing time in this outing. Norman Powell lead with 17 points in 28 minutes, as Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo all totaled 20 minutes or more.
Most notably, it was the first preseason game that Ware started alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt.
Nikola Jovic remained sidelined in this game due to injury. In Ware’s start, he added only 6 points on 3 of 7 shooting. However, he pitched in 11 boards. That winning impact that coach Erik Spoelstra has been wanting out of the big man wasn’t on display, as Ware sported a team-worst -17 plus/minus.
The biggest concern of the night comes with the health of Adebayo. Despite posting 13 points, 9 boards and looking more comfortable offensively, he left the game early with a knee contusion. He will almost certainly be sidelined for Miami’s final preseason game on Friday in preparation of the regular season opener.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. and youngster Ethan Thompson each dropped 17 points off the bench.
Ultimately, it was the first and third quarters of this matchup that the Heat struggled to execute. Between both those quarters combined, the Hawks had the 57-40 edge.
The Heat bounced back with their rebounding, but shot an abysmal 15% from 3-point range as a team. They also surrendered 19 turnovers to the Hawks’ 16. It’s still not time to be concerned, considering all these preseason losses have really come from the hands of Miami’s g-leaguers getting extended run.
However, the Heat will have one last chance to avoid going completely winless in these exhibition games on Friday against the Grizzlies.
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watched some of coop flaggs game…im still reeling what couldve been. anybody got a time machine?
Time machine won’t matter cuz spo is always gonna try to win and won’t be benching his good players.
espn predictions got the Heat at 17-9 by christmas. very generous. but 28-28 by allstar break lol. and 42-20 going to the play-in and losing it. in their simulation they have the magic to win it all. huwaaaat?! this might be a fun season. unless we crash and burn…oh pls no
Typo. 42-40 I assume
yep sorry 42-40
17-9 by Christmas??? Either it’s a typo (9-17) or that’s some pretty potent crack that guy is smokin.
It’s getting more complicated because of up and down games by Heat players. And the injuries also make it hard to assess things. But, the good news is JJJ had a couple of decent games, and Powell has been solid. We are likely going into the season without a clear idea of what kind of team we are going to have. So, maybe we should evaluate after ten or twenty games. Till then, we are likely not as bad as our preseason record, but I still would welcome a trade from an area of surplus (guard- after Ty returns), to an area of more need, (big men power, either forward or at center).
We need quality. There is no quality big man available right now for a reasonable price. Thing might be different in 4 months, when several teams will be already out of contention.
We need to wait and hope for the best.
That makes it tough to do much at this time. We are going to have to wait. The one good thing about struggling early is if we do have a slow start, it may get Pat to act, maybe make a deal to upgrade sooner than perhaps he would have. But, no matter what, it’s unlikely any moves are made for awhile. And, if everyone gets healthy, it’s also not impossible that we do surprisingly well either.
“Thing might be different in 4 months, when several teams will be already out of contention.”
“We need to wait and hope for the best.”
If Riley does nothing to rectify the current situation, it can be presumed he is considering this a gap/mini-tank year and intends to re-tool/rebuild during the offseason. That could include letting contracts expire and trading marketable players for the right price (e.g., Powell, Wiggins, Herro, Fontecchio, Jovic and Jaquez) before the February trade deadline for young players, draft picks and possibly a ss.
The team would still have a young (under 30) core to build around, including:
Bam, Ware, Jakucionis, Mitchell, Smith and Larsson.
Its obviously that this is not a contender team, The difference of winning 35 or 45 games is not really a big thing this year. If anybody goes down, there is always a G league player or a free agent available to fill the gap.
I see this year as a year, where we need to figure it out, which players could be a part of a better team. There is about 10 players, who needs to be tested. I think only 3-4 of them will stay next year to be building blocks of a contender.
Another mediocre season won’t do it. Riley needs to try to turn this year’s team into a legitimate contender or tank it up. To have a chance to compete in East,
It would be nice to get a ss. At minimum, Miami needs at least one more big (like Vucevic). In addition, it would be nice to get a good closer (like DeRozan).
Not only will we be without Herro, but early season schedule is pretty tough. I could see some rough games early while they try to figure out roles and guys try to get in to form.
Pretty tough is putting it mildly. The team’s first 8 games are:
@ Orlando, @ Memphis, New York, Charlotte, @ San Antonio, @ Lakers,
@ Clippers, @ Denver
It doesn’t get much easier. After two games vs likely lottery teams (Charlotte and Portland) the Heat’s next 13 games are:
Cleveland, Cleveland, New York, @ New York, Golden State, @ Chicago,
@ Philadelphia, Dallas, Milwaukee, Detroit, Clippers, @ Dallas and @ Orlando.
If Miami can come out of that early season 23 game gauntlet with a 10-13 record, I would consider it successful. I hate to be a prognosticator of bad news, but, if the Heat fails to win, at minimum 8-9 of those 23 games, the season may be over before it starts.
Note:
Miami played most of it’s rotation players yesterday (minus Herro and Jovic) while the Hawks didn’t play the majority of their starters/rotation players (e.g., Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Zaccharie Risacher).
bam not a serious injury…
https://clutchpoints.com/nba/miami-heat/heat-news-bam-adebayo-gets-huge-injury-update-after-exiting-hawks-clash?fbclid=IwY2xjawNbRWlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFVYnpsMG9YdW5QUjI0THdEAR5kitBJz5eK75jMIO43Uffipk_i5JIIg1hadzL4h3YsKo3HKztRzEbEKUUPqw_aem_d2TtAkcfmvQJeqYWrmS7Hg
Excellent news. He’ll be ready for the Magic.
There is a positive sign.
JJJ, which played a lot in first preparation games, looks as our best player right now. Maybe that’s because he is the only one already in the rhythm.
Which could mean the others will be better.
Agree, it’s good to see. Here’s to hoping the rest can get to his level 😉