Heat starters play extended minutes, trends to watch, more takeaways from preseason win vs. Spurs

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-117 win over the San Antonio Spurs in its third of five preseason games on Tuesday night at Kaseya Center. The Heat (2-1) is right back at it Wednesday, completing the preseason back-to-back set against the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun):

The Heat’s projected opening-night starting lineup played its second straight preseason game together. They even played in the second half on Tuesday.

The Heat began its second straight preseason game with its preferred starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo. These two games are the first two that this five-man group has ever played together.

Just like this lineup’s debut in Sunday’s preseason win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the results were positive on Tuesday.

The Heat’s starting lineup outscored the Spurs by two points in 23 minutes together on Tuesday. It marks their most minutes they have played together this preseason.

“I like it, but who cares what the head coach thinks,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Heat’s starting unit. “They like it, they’re comfortable, they’re gaining confidence. And the most important thing is they’re intentional about the work and the process of putting it together to start the season.”

The Heat’s starters built a 19-15 lead in the first 8:51 of the opening quarter during their first stint of the game.

The Heat starting unit’s second shift of the night came in the second quarter, outscoring the Spurs 21-19 in the final 6:45 of the first half.

The Heat’s starters then opened the second half for the first time this preseason, but the Spurs outscored the Heat’s starting unit 22-18 in the first 7:55 of the third quarter.

“It feels good,” Herro said of playing as part of the Heat’s starting unit. “Just getting out there on the court with the guys. Just getting minutes, getting reps, I think that’s the biggest thing at this point. Just being able to go out there and work through the different things — spacing, where guys like to be, guys’ strength spots and where they like the ball.”

Adebayo was a force, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 6-of-9 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks in 23 minutes.

Herro added 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 shooting on threes, one rebound, four assists and one steal in 23 minutes.

Butler recorded 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, 0-of-1 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, one assist, three steals and one block in 23 minutes.

Jovic contributed seven points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field, 1-of-4 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, one assist, three steals and one block in 24 minutes.

Rozier ended the night with five points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, 1-of-6 shooting on threes and 0-of-1 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 24 minutes.

The Heat’s preferred starting lineup is a plus 4 through its first two games together this preseason.

“It feels great,” Rozier said of the energy among the starting group. “I think we’ve been building great relationships since [training camp in] the Bahamas.”

Spurs second-year phenom Victor Wembanyama closed Tuesday’s contest with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 17 minutes.

There was one small change to the Heat’s bench rotation on Tuesday.

For the second straight preseason game, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kevin Love and Dru Smith were among the first five reserves who entered.

But this time, Alec Burks was the fifth reserve used by the Heat. Burks played in Haywood Highsmith’s spot in the bench rotation.

Robinson, Jaquez, Love, Smith and Burks were the only five Heat reserves who played in Tuesday’s first half.

Jaquez was solid, finishing the win with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal in 18 minutes.

Highsmith, who played in the first two preseason games, did not play against the Spurs. He was given the night off by the Heat’s coaching staff.

Thomas Bryant, Keshad Johnson, Kel’el Ware, Josh Christopher, Pelle Larsson and Isaiah Stevens all entered for the Heat in the second half.

Highsmith, Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin and Warren Washington were the only available Heat players who did not appear in Tuesday’s game.

It’s just the preseason, but it’s clear that the Heat is putting an emphasis on creating turnovers and putting up more threes.

That emphasis was on display Tuesday, as the Heat put up 45 three-pointers and helped force the Spurs into 21 turnovers.

This has become a preseason trend.

The Heat has now put up 40 or more threes and forced its opponent into 20-plus turnovers in each of the first three preseason games. The Heat ranks eighth in the NBA in three-point attempts per game (42.3) and first in opponent turnover percentage (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) at an elite 21.7 percent.

“To be who we’re supposed to be more consistently,” Spoelstra said of emphasizing the need for the Heat to force turnovers. “That’s really the bottom line. Committing to it from Day 1. It’s tough. This league is a challenge to defend — all the skill, the aggressiveness, the spacing, the creativity that each team is playing with right now. You can’t do it unless you commit wholeheartedly to multiple efforts, the conditioning that you need to defend at a high level, the elite communication to be able to be on a string always.”

Of taking more threes, Herro said: “We want to shoot layups and threes, honestly. I think obviously there will be points throughout the game when we shoot midrange twos. We know the time and place for it. But for our offense to be what we want it to be, we need to shoot a lot of threes.”

Last season, the Heat averaged 33.7 three-point attempts per game while its opponents averaged 13.7 turnovers per game.

Will this boost in three-point volume and opponent turnover percentage continue in the regular season? That’s still to be determined.

The only Heat player unavailable for Tuesday’s preseason game was guard Josh Richardson.

Richardson has missed the Heat’s first three preseason games and there’s still no definitive timetable for his return, as he continues to work his way back from right shoulder surgery that he underwent in March. His status for the start of the regular season is up in the air, but he is making encouraging progress.

“I don’t have a timeline,” Spoelstra said when asked about Richardson’s recovery before Tuesday’s contest. “I just know that he’s doing a ton of work. His body will let us know. But he’s doing what he needs to do. He is working closely with [Heat senior director of rehabilitation] Jeff Ruiz. But he’s on the court every single day.”

Richardson, 31, made the decision to pick up the $3.1 million player option in his contract to stay with the Heat this past summer. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

More Heat players could be out — besides Richardson — for Wednesday’s matchup against the Hawks on the second night of a preseason back-to-back in Miami.

Considering the Heat’s regulars all played on the front end of the preseason back-to-back Tuesday, there’s a chance some will sit out Wednesday’s game against the Hawks. After all, it is the preseason.

The preseason contest against the Hawks was originally scheduled for this past Thursday, but it was pushed back because of Hurricane Milton.

Among those who have played in each of the Heat’s first three preseason games are Adebayo, Butler, Rozier, Jovic, Smith, Robinson, Love, Christopher, Ware, Larsson and Bryant.

With Butler playing in each of the Heat’s first three preseason games, it’s worth noting that he didn’t play in any preseason games last year.