Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Miami Heat took the floor on their home floor against the New Orleans Pelicans Thursday night.
Wins and losses don’t matter all that much in the preseason, but the Heat did move to 2-0, earning a 128-118 win inside Kaseya Center.
The biggest overarching takeaway was that Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to look the part — and then some. He finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with four rebounds and four assists in 18 first-half minutes. He was finishing in traffic through ease, and looked comfortable with his in-between game, establishing deep post positioning that allowed him to get creative with his shot selection and footwork.
Klay Thompson was extra aggressive, opening the game with his first made three after going scoreless in Sunday’s win. Andrew Wiggins and Tim Hardaway Jr. picked up right where they left off, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively, combining for three made threes and eight made baskets. Davion Mitchell tallied nine points with seven assists to just one turnover, controlling the Heat’s fast-paced attack that scored 73 points in the opening 24 minutes.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra maintained a similar rotation pattern to what he did during the Heat’s preseason opener. As a result, the regular rotation only played in the first half, save for Bobby Portis, Hardaway and Nikola Jovic, who all played at least 19 minutes.
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Dru Smith better watch out cuz tre Donaldson is coming for that spot sooner or later…
Totally agree
Greek was great. Wiggins and THJ really good, Jovic too. Bam and Mitchell a bit off.
From the rest, Gardner made a case for himselves.
I didn’t like how Portis was playing. Too selfish at times. It seems that he intend to take over the second unit. I m not sure if this is in best teams interest.
I expect the Heat to have most of the bugs out by opening game. They will only get better, month by month, after that.
I am impressed by how several players are performing.
*Larsson has the potential to become a very good two-way player (6th man or starter).
*Wiggins looks like he is going to be a very reliable supporting player this season.
*Gardner is a very energetic two-way player who may earn a rotation spot.
*Ryan Conwell and Tre Donaldson aren’t rotation ready yet but should get minutes.
*Richards looks he was an excellent pick up for vet minimum.
*Mitchell’s scoring will come around and his defense and playmaking are very good.
*Thompson’s offense hasn’t kicked in yet but his playmaking and defense are very good.
In addition, the team’s overall depth is much better than what many of us would have guessed 2-3 months ago. I think Riley should hold off making any more trades for the time being, until the current players have an opportunity to demonstrate what they have. Whatever Riley does, he should not gamble on a player who has a poor availabilty history, such as Kyrie, Zion, Kahwi, Lamelo, Jamal, Ja, etc.
Forgot to mention Jovic. He hasn’t been spectacular, but he has demonstrated improvement from last season. In today’s game he had 8 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.
Niko still needs to find his mojo. If he does, it will be a big plus for the second unit’s offense and defense. So far, it looks like he has found his mo, now if he can just find his jo.
Jovic has also been playing solid defense. Still a ways to go, but showing improvement overall. He has to work to improve every day, every practice.
As for Klay, I have been impressed with his defense. It is better than I expected. I expect his offense to come along as he settles in.
I think Niko played a very good game. He hit his open shots, he was always close to the offensive rebound, moving the ball really well, and always at the right place in defense.
Not spectacular numbers, but overall very good impression. Definitely there is a place for him in this team.
We are all pulling for him. Well, one isn’t, but the rest of us are. 😉
He will be his biggest fan after just one big game.
Its a hot/cold/love hate situation. Take everything with a grain of salt. What is up today may be down tomorrow and visa versa. Its up to Niko to prove his value and up to Riley/Spo/fans to hold him accountable. This is the time for all of us to stop looking backward and start looking forward.
No doubt about Klay. He is playing defense.
He got 7 shots in 15 minutes last night ,or around 10 shots in 20 or so minutes, which will probably be his minutes average.
If he can hit around 40 % of his shots, his average should be around 10-12 ppg.
Good:
Mitchell made better ball decisions in this game than in the first game. Like his progression.
Jovic has shown some growth in other areas of his game…off ball movement, help defense etc. Hope he continues to stay healthy.
Bad:
Defensive and offensive rebound were terrible in the 1st half.
The defense appeared disjointed in the 1st half.
Ugly:
Sometimes the offense was ugly to watch, with Bam and Giannis on the floor together.
A work in progress. Both were trying not to get into each other’s game.