The Miami HEAT host the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. The HEAT defeated the Nets 110-99 in their last meeting on March 28. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM, and television coverage is on FOX Sports Sun. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: What have we learned about the HEAT so far in preseason?
Couper Moorhead: That they're certainly backing up their claimed desire to play with pace at any opportunity, but that when those opportunities aren't there this is a roster still going through the normal process of figuring out how to play with all the new pieces around. After a 39-point second quarter against Minnesota the other night, the HEAT were outscored 41-23 in the third in part due to eight turnovers in that period. And when you go over those turnovers, many of them were simply errant passes to players either not expecting them or in the wrong spot. That sort of thing typically irons itself out as teams build experience together, but its also not something to take lightly.
Joe Beguiristain: So far in the early stages of preseason, we've learned that the HEAT can score in bunches when they're playing solid defense and getting out in transition. For examples of that, look no further than Miami's opener against Washington a week ago in which the team scored 19 fast break points and held the Wizards to 39.3 percent shooting. While the HEAT didn't do those things quite as well in their following contest against Minnesota on Saturday, there was a nice spurt in the second quarter thanks to Dion Waiters and Derrick Williams.
Other than that, we've also noticed Hassan Whiteside's continued dominance. In two games this preseason, the 27-year-old is averaging 18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per contest on 72.7 percent shooting. Obviously the sample size is very small, but it's good to see Whiteside start off the season on the right foot.
2: What opportunities does this Brooklyn team offer as far as that preseason learning process goes?
Couper: It gives Miami another center to deal with, in Brook Lopez, after allowing 13 points in the third period to Karl-Anthony Towns a few days ago. Lopez gave the HEAT some trouble last season with his combination of post-up skills and outside shooting ability, and a steady dose of his possessions on Tuesday should give Miami some practice at timing proper double teams in the post and how to shift defensively in reaction to those doubles.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson being healthy and active should also give Justise Winslow, assuming they are matched up on occasion, a good test when he has the ball in his hands.
Joe: Thus far, the Nets have gone 1-1 in preseason play, including a 116-98 loss to the Knicks in their most recent outing on Saturday. Like Miami, Brooklyn is a team that looks pretty different than a year ago. While Brook Lopez still patrols the middle, the Nets have a whole new backcourt with Jeremy Lin and Randy Foye to go along with fellow newcomer Trevor Booker at the power forward spot.
As Coup mentioned above, Lopez fared well against the HEAT last season, but he now has a bunch of new teammates to get used to outside of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Still, both stalwarts should prove to be a good test for Whiteside and Miami's frontcourt. Lopez can do a little bit of everything offensively, while Hollis-Jefferson is a defensive-minded player who is working on his outside shot.
3: With regard to the distribution of shots, has the offense begun to sort itself out and do you see any changes coming up?
Couper: With the starters, many possessions have centered around the Goran Dragic-Hassan Whiteside pick-and-roll as pretty much everyone expected. Both Winslow and Tyler Johnson are also getting actions to run in those groups, though neither has been particularly high-usage to this point as most of the team has been fitting into the team concept. Dion Waiters would be the one exception there, not that he hasn't been a more than willing playmaker so far but that he's clearly been situated as an offensive sparkplug so far. Nothing particularly surprising so far, as this seems like a situation Josh Richardson will be able to slide into with ease.
Joe: Based on the first two games of the preseason, it seems as though Whiteside will get the ball in the post quite often. In fact, the big man has a 26.1 usage percentage, which is a solid increase from last year. Of course, the pick-and-roll with Goran Dragic plays a part in that as well since that is a staple of the HEAT's half court offense.
Other than that, it's a little too early to tell what the offense will look like moving forward. As Coach Spo said on Monday after practice, “I would say any lineup right now, I wouldn't look too much into it.”
We'll see which combinations stand out above the rest in the coming weeks leading up to October 26.
*Note: After this writing, it was announced that Brook Lopez and Randy Foye would not play.
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