A glimpse at Heat’s starting unit, Herro and Jaquez return, other takeaways from preseason win

The Miami Heat didn’t have a preseason dress rehearsal game last year. In fact, Heat star Jimmy Butler didn’t even play in a preseason game last year.

But the Heat is handling the preseason a bit differently this year, as it appeared to treat Sunday’s preseason matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center as a preseason dress rehearsal. The result was a win, as the Heat earned a 101-99 victory over a Pelicans team also playing most of its regulars.

The Heat led by as many as 20 points, but the game still came down to the final seconds after the Pelicans began the fourth quarter on a 28-16 run to come all the way back and take a one-point lead with 2:48 to play. The game was decided when Heat rookie Pelle Larsson made two game-winning free throws with 6.6 seconds left to break a 99-99 tie.

“It was very important because I didn’t want to feel like we blew that big lead that the other guys had built,” Larsson said of his game-deciding free throws. “So those were important shots.”

Just about every healthy and available rotation regular played for the Heat in its second of five preseason games on Sunday. The only Heat players unavailable against the Pelicans were Josh Richardson, who continues to recover from right shoulder surgery that he underwent in March, and Alec Burks, who received the day off.

Butler has played in each of the Heat’s first two preseason games this year. He closed Sunday’s victory with four points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field, one rebound and two assists in 16 minutes before being held out of the second half.

Also, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. returned to play for the Heat on Sunday after missing Tuesday’s preseason opener with strained groins.

Herro recorded 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 shooting on threes, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 15 minutes on Sunday in a starting role. Like Butler, Herro also sat out the second half.

Jaquez contributed six points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field but 0-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line, three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 17 minutes off the bench on Sunday.

Next up for the Heat (1-1) is its third of five preseason games on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs.

Five takeaways from the Heat’s preseason win over the Pelicans on Sunday:

The Heat’s projected starting lineup for opening night was able to log its first-ever game minutes together on Sunday.

The Heat was able to open Sunday’s preseason game with its preferred starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Herro, Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo.

Because of the Heat’s injury issues, this combination never played together last season after the Heat traded for Rozier in late January.

With Herro back after missing Tuesday’s preseason opener, the Rozier-Herro-Butler-Jovic-Adebayo unit played together in a game for the first time ever on Sunday.

The results were positive, as the Heat’s starting lineup outscored the Pelicans by two points in 14 minutes together during the first half. This lineup did not play in the second half.

“That group, I thought, was really encouraging,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Sunday’s win. “That’s the way they looked in training camp over in the Bahamas.”

But the Heat’s starting group wasn’t sharp to begin Sunday’s game, opening 5 of 16 from the field and 1 of 8 (12.5 percent) from three-point range with four turnovers during their first shift of the game. The Heat’s starting lineup was outscored 12-11 in the first 7:48 of the game before Miami’s first reserves entered.

The Heat’s starters also closed out Sunday’s second half on the court together, playing the final 4:59 of the second quarter. The Heat outscored the Pelicans 15-12 during this stretch.

“It wasn’t perfect, but we’re aiming to be as good as we can be,” Jovic said of the Heat’s starting lineup. “It will take some time.”

Even with Herro and Jaquez returning from groin injuries on Sunday, guard Dru Smith was still one of the Heat’s first reserves to enter the game.

The first five players used off the bench on Sunday were Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Kevin Love, Smith and Jaquez.

Smith, who is one of three Heat players on a two-way contract, has now played as one of the Heat’s top reserves in each of the first two preseason games. That’s already an accomplishment, considering Smith’s status for the start of training camp was up in the air just a few weeks ago as he continued to recover from ACL reconstruction surgery that he underwent in late December.

Smith finished Sunday’s win with four points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 16 minutes. The Heat was a plus 10 with Smith on the court against the Pelicans.

“I did not look at his box score,” Spoelstra said when asked about Smith’s performance against the Pelicans. “But so much of what he does, it won’t show up. He just makes winning play after winning play.”

Thomas Bryant, Larsson, Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin, Josh Christopher and Kel’el Ware all entered for the Heat in the second half.

Keshad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens and Warren Washington were the only available Heat players who did not appear in Sunday’s game.

It appears that Ware is currently the fourth center on the Heat’s depth chart.

For the second straight preseason game, Adebayo, Love and Bryant played ahead of Ware.

Ware, who the Heat took with the 15th overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft, didn’t enter Sunday’s game until there was 2:26 left in the third quarter.

Ware, 20, closed Sunday’s win with six points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 2-of-4 shooting from the foul line to go with five rebounds in 14 minutes.

The Heat entered training camp with the intention of playing faster this season. That work has been on display through the first two preseason games.

While the regulars were in the game on Sunday, the Heat outscored the Pelicans 18-4 in fast-break points in the first half.

In the first half of Tuesday’s preseason opener while the regulars were in the game, the Heat outscored the Hornets 16-10 in fast-break points.

It helps that the Pelicans and Hornets each had double-digit turnovers in the first half of those games, giving the Heat more chances to play in transition. It’s also important to note that preseason games are often played at a faster pace than regular-season games.

But any uptick in pace would be an improvement for the Heat after finishing as one of the five slowest-paced teams in the NBA in each of the past five regular seasons. The Heat also ranked 22nd out of 30 NBA teams in fast-break points last regular season, averaging 12.8 per game.

Just in the first half alone this preseason, the Heat is averaging 17 fast-break points per contest through the first two games.

A busy week of preseason games is ahead for the Heat.

Sunday marked the start of a four-day stretch that includes three preseason games and the beginning of a six-day stretch that includes four preseason games.

Following Sunday’s matchup against the Pelicans, the Heat continues its preseason with a back-to-back set in Miami against the Spurs on Tuesday and against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The preseason contest against the Hawks was originally scheduled for this past Thursday, but it was pushed back because of Hurricane Milton.

The Heat then wraps up its five-game preseason schedule on Friday against the Grizzlies in Memphis, Tenn.

The Heat’s rotation regulars played on Sunday, but they’ll get some time off in the coming days. Expect the Heat to sit out most of its regulars in at least one of the Heat’s remaining three preseason games.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Spoelstra said of the busy week ahead. “I don’t mind it. We’re still able to get practice time and also get those games in.”