Takeaway: HEAT closes preseason with dress rehearsal win as Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin start

1. Miami was in dress rehearsal mode tonight, a 120-103 win over New Orleans, which meant we got our first real look at what should be, or at least clubhouse-leading, their rotation. of the opening night. To open, Erik Spoelstra went with Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin a group that only played 38 possessions together last season but were the educated guess all preseason and, at one point , a group consisting of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon. On paper, there aren’t many offensive question marks with either group. Herro (23 points on 15 shooting) was one of the best catch-and-shooters in the league last year and playing against Lowry, Butler and Adebayo allows him to achieve that strength more often. This removes Herro from those bench line-ups, although Spoelstra can stagger the playmakers, which puts more on the shoulders of Vincent and Oladipo to be able to create a cohesive attack for the stretches, but play together Strus and Robinson, like the two players on the HEAT, most likely to consistently draw multiple defenders due to their shooting gravity, is a creative way to grease those wheels even if there’s no individual volume threat in mind like Herro the did last season. It was just a preseason game against a Pelicans team that rested a few starters, but there wasn’t much to dispute. No notes, so to speak. The three fell, they were 11 out of 19 at halftime. Martin was running through Zion Williamson and generating downhill pressure and Adebayo (25 points on 12 shots) was looking for weak spots to attack.

2. As odd as it may seem to say that given how elite they were at this end last season, the biggest question right now might be how the defense is going to perform. We know what it will look like. You don’t play Martin next to Adebayo without planning to change a lot and the bigger bodies lean towards more conservative covers. We don’t yet know how effective it will be. Herro isn’t as robust as Strus as a starter and the bench unit, with Robinson the nominal backup striker tonight, no longer has Martin to create mayhem in the area or the man alongside vincent. Not to mention they’ll still play pretty small no matter how well the Spoelstras scheme protects the paint without size. At one point Miami was 9 of 14 from three midway through the second quarter remember they were nearly undefeated shooting over 40% from deep last year and only two because the Pelicans were very at comfortable running whatever they wanted to run (no more than a flurry of Zion, which was aimless at first).

A question doesn’t have to be a concern, but at least from a brief third-gear look we got on rotation, the offense looked a little ahead on the other side of the floor. In theory, any loss, should it materialize, made on one side from one year to the next, can be offset by gains on the other. You don’t have to be the same to be as good.

3. Although I wouldn’t call it a surprise, it should be noted that Nikola Jovi was the 11^e man in the first half, coming on after the all bench group had had a bit of a run and again playing a small cross. Unfortunately for him, that meant facing Zion for a few minutes, with Zion going straight through Jovis’ chest at one point and burning him for a back-cut at another as Jovi picked up three fouls in five minutes. Jovi doesn’t make mistakes rookies aren’t supposed to make or struggle with rookies, but such is life for 19-year-olds in the NBA. Similarly, Spoelstra is playing Jovi at all in this half, including at the forefront next to Adebayo and the rest of the starters should tell you how interested they are in the skills the youngster brings. at the table. Well, probably say it a lot this season, but Jovi is the most natural power forward on the roster and has a skill set that, at least offensively, pairs well with just about every major lineup in Miami. . Hell just needs a little seasoning because it makes a few mistakes along the way.