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Coup’s Takeaways: Young HEAT Close Out 4-1 Preseason With Comeback Victory in Memphis



1. The preseason is officially over, Miami finishing the preliminary slate 4-1 after tonight’s 114-109 win in Memphis. Only Nikola Jovic played among what has so far been the established starters as most of the veterans stayed back in Miami while Jaime Jaquez Jr. also got the night off.


Memphis wasn’t resting their guys in this one as Ja Morant and Desmond Bane playing both halves while rookie center Zach Edey – Thomas Bryant gave him quite a bit of trouble in the post despite giving up some size and weight – stepped in for Jaren Jackson Jr. It should be of no surprise to a single soul who has watched a HEAT game that Miami’s bench and developmental players gave Memphis’ regular a real game as they took an early lead behind threes and steals and only gave it up in the second quarter when Bane took control for a scoring sprint. And yet there they were in the third quarter, down only five even with Jovic and Haywood Highsmith on the bench while Morant and Bane continued to play. By the end of the third, when Memphis’ starters exited the game for good, Miami remained down just six.


Then, when it was bench against bench, Memphis temporarily up double digits, it was time for another run this time with Pelle Larsson – not his best shooting night at 5-of-17 but doing all the same glue guy work he did during his starting stint – stirring the proverbial drink. As the Grizzlies’ young group struggled to put together coherent offense, Miami again ran up the steals total (16) on their way to victory. That’s at least 15 steals in all five preseason games for the HEAT as they led the league in opponent turnover rate.


Just another example of how the HEAT play to their identity and within their system no matter who is on the floor. When they do that, good shooting and active defense will carry them for long stretches even without elite offensive creators available. A hammer screen setting up a corner three looks the same whether it’s Jovic and Herro or if it’s Warren Washington setting up Larsson.


2. Every time you watch Isaiah Stevens he’s making someone else look good, and there might not be anyone who has benefitted from his passing more than Kal’el Ware – such is relationship between center and point guard, one needing the other to get them the ball in their best spots.


Within the first few minutes of Stevens’ first shift – off the bench in the first half, starting the second half – he had already fed Ware for two dunks, one a lob from a tough angle and another off an acrobatic up and under airborne dump off, with another lob to Keshad Johnson thrown on top. For as much as Spoelstra’s system gives the younger players a framework to work inside of, Stevens is the stabilizing force who does the creation required in that system.


The other side of things is that Stevens hasn’t spent much time looking for his own offense throughout preseason, taking just four shots tonight in his 18 minutes that otherwise produced five assists. That can all come with time. It’s no easy thing learning where you can get your offense standing at six feet tall. The good news is that Stevens has a long history of good shooting, both off the catch and the dribble, so there’s more offense than we’ve seen. What’s important for today is that Stevens has given himself a shot in this league by being a guy who produces for those around him and that surely has not gone unnoticed by those playing with him.


3. A few notes on others who played in a game without many regular season storylines to track. Jovic only played 14 minutes but had a couple strong drives to the rim which showed better comfort and composure going downhill than earlier in his career. He’s been a good fit so far as a connector with the starters but there was a brief two-minute stretch tonight where he was Miami’s entire offense. Jovic appears to be in a nice spot this season, playing a crucial role when it comes to impacting wins which should also keep him on the floor enough to explore the upside of his offensive skills when the opportunities are there.


Highsmith had nine of Miami’s first 17 points with three threes. Very little he does is going to jump off the box score – he has shown a bit more downhill verve as he continues to work on his push shots – but he’s done nothing this preseason but remind of his capabilities as a steady two-way guy. Good shooting night for Nassir Little (4-of-5 from three). We haven’t seen a ton of Little in preseason but the shot is the thing that lets his defense play. Josh Christopher scored like it was Summer League, putting up 17 on 11 shots. And rookie center Ware needed 17 shots to get to 16 points (seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals), struggling a bit with his jumper, but he again showed all the flashes you want to see from a center in his first couple weeks of professional action – a lot of easy athleticism shown on clean up duty in the paint but also glimpses of shot creation, turnaround jumpers in the post, that we’ll be keeping in mind for later.


That’s all for preseason. It’s time for the real deal.


By ML Staff. Images courtesy of NBA. Words by Couper Moorhead. For Miami HEAT tickets click here.

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