As start of regular season approaches, what did Heat show during revelatory preseason?

Some years, there’s not much to take away from the preseason. But this is not one of those years.

The Heat’s five-game preseason schedule was productive and revelatory this year, as a new starting lineup and tweaks to offensive and defensive schemes were unveiled.

Following its 4-1 preseason, the Heat returned to the practice court on Sunday in preparation for Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center.

“Everybody is excited about the season,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Sunday’s practice. “We’ve had enough time off in the offseason, we had a very good and productive training camp. It’s time for Wednesday night.”

Here are some of the themes from the preseason that the Heat hopes translate into more wins this regular season after entering the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed in each of the last two seasons:

Player availability continues to be a big emphasis for the Heat: That even held true in the preseason, as most of the Heat’s regulars played in four of the five exhibition games. Just look at the difference in how the Heat handled Jimmy Butler, as he played in four preseason games this year after not playing in any preseason games last year. Heat president Pat Riley made it known at the start of this past offseason that the team needed to fix its player availability problem. A statement seemed to be sent when the Heat played its regulars in four games this preseason, even in both games of a preseason back-to-back set. After setting a new franchise record with 35 different starting lineups last season because of injuries and other issues, part of the Heat improvement plan is to simply have its best players be available for more games. The Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Butler and Tyler Herro was limited to just 27 games together last regular season.

A more efficient shot profile: This won’t be hard, considering the Heat finished last season with essentially the least efficient shot profile in the league because of its high volume of midrange attempts and low amount of shots around the rim. The Heat closed last season with the NBA’s worst location effective field-goal percentage (a predictor of what a team’s effective field-goal percentage would be if it shot the league average at each location based on their shot selection). But it’s clear the Heat coaching staff has tweaked the offense in an effort to turn up the three-point volume and create more opportunities at the rim while cutting down on the inefficient non-paint two-point shots. This shift began weeks ago when the Heat’s coaching staff adjusted the scoring format in scrimmages during training camp to make layups and dunks worth three points, three-pointers worth three points and midrange shots count for just one point. This approach was on display all preseason, as the Heat finished its exhibition schedule averaging the fifth-most shot attempts at the rim and 12th-most three-point attempts per game in the NBA this preseason. Miami also took the sixth-fewest non-paint two-point shots per game during the exhibition schedule. The Heat hopes a more efficient shot chart results in more efficient offensive production. Miami has finished with a bottom-10 offensive rating in each of the last two seasons.

A faster pace (maybe): One way the Heat is trying to generate easier baskets around the rim is by finding more of them in transition. The Heat is doing that by making an effort to play faster. After averaging 96.9 possessions per 48 minutes for the NBA’s second-slowest pace last regular season, the Heat’s pace ticked up to 104.2 possessions per 48 minutes this preseason for a speed that would have ranked as the fastest in the league last regular season. This shift helped the Heat average an NBA-high 25.4 fast-break points per game this preseason. But whether this speedier style continues remains to be seen because the Heat also played at a faster pace last preseason (103.5 possessions per 48 minutes) before slowing down last regular season (96.9 possessions per 48 minutes). The Heat has finished as one of the five slowest-paced teams in the NBA in each of the past five regular seasons.

A disruptive defense: This isn’t necessarily new, as the Heat has finished with one of the NBA’s 10 highest opponent turnover rates (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) in each of the last four seasons. But the Heat is trying to get back to that part of its game this season after taking a step back in the final few months of last season, when it posted the NBA’s 14th-highest opponent turnover percentage after the All-Star break. The Heat returned to its disruptive ways this preseason, finishing the exhibition schedule with the league’s highest opponent turnover rate. The Heat recorded at least 15 steals in each of its five preseason games this year after doing so only once last regular season. Forcing opponents into turnovers also helps the Heat on the other end of the court, giving Miami more opportunities to play faster and generate easy looks around the rim off live-ball mistakes. Will the Heat finish every game with 15 steals? Probably not, but just being among the top teams in forcing turnovers again would be a positive sign for Miami’s defense.

A new starting lineup: Entering training camp, there were questions about the Heat’s starting lineup. Would Herro and Terry Rozier start together in the Heat’s backcourt? Who would begin the season as the Heat’s starting power forward? It didn’t take long for those questions to be answered, as Spoelstra made clear that the opening-night starting lineup would include Rozier, Herro, Butler, Nikola Jovic and Adebayo through his words and decisions over the last few weeks. After Herro missed the preseason opener with a groin injury, that group started the next three preseason games together before most of the regulars sat out Friday’s preseason finale against the Memphis Grizzlies. Those three exhibition games are the first three games that this five-man group has ever played together. The Heat’s preferred starting lineup was a plus 12 this preseason.