The Miami HEAT face the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The HEAT fell to the Timberwolves 109-100 in their last meeting on October 8. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM. There will be no television coverage, but you can listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: What did we learn from Miami's victory in San Antonio?
Couper Moorhead: That Tyler Johnson can still shoot, Justise Winslow has a bunch of offensive potential that he's still feeling out in the context of this roster and Erik Spoelstra has yet another interesting lineup at his disposal – going three guards with Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters (a starter in this game) and Tyler Johnson at times. While Dragic is the only true point of the group, all three can move the ball and attack closeouts with force. When the offense is designed around spacing the floor, hitting open shooters off penetration and forcing long rotations to the ball, having multiple guards on the floor who can accomplish all three of those goals is a potent option.
Joe Beguiristain: Although it's just the preseason, we learned that Miami can hold its own with one of the best teams in the league. To be fair, LaMarcus Aldridge didn't play, but it was still a step in the right direction for the HEAT.
The team held the Spurs to just 39 percent shooting through three quarters, including 1-of-9 from Kawhi Leonard. San Antonio also committed 19 turnovers in the contest.
On the flip side of the ball, Miami kept the ball moving and tallied 24 assists. As Coup mentioned above, the team found success with a three-guard lineup featuring Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson and Dion Waiters. The trio combined for 15 assists on the evening and kept the HEAT in attack mode. Speaking of attack, Waiters bullied his way to the rim often and finished with 15 points. Johnson, meanwhile, led the team with 17 points and was scorching hot from distance thanks to the unselfishness of his teammates.
2: Having given up a large lead in the last game with Minnesota, what can Miami do better with regards to this matchup?
Couper: The third quarter last Saturday was a bit of a mess as Miami's defense struggled to keep up with Minnesota's youth and athleticism, leading to many Wolves paint attacks and free-throws. And as a result, the HEAT were taking the ball out of the rim on most possessions, meaning they were trying to score in the half-court – not something you would expect this team to be superior at when compared to their transition scoring. What was odd was that those issues hadn't existed much in the first half, when the HEAT took a big lead.
Yes, the team was likely mentally fatigued after taking a multi-day detour to avoid the path of Hurricane Matthew, but Miami will simply have to respond better to runs than they did in this one. Fortunately, they responded significantly better the next time out when Brooklyn came to town.
Joe: After Miami raced out to a 62-47 halftime lead in that last matchup with the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins went bonkers. The duo combined for 21 points in the third quarter and swung the game back in Minnesota's favor.
This time around, Miami has to do a better job on the defensive end. While Wiggins shot just 3-of-11 against the HEAT, he attempted a whopping 16 free throws. Towns, meanwhile, shot six times from the charity stripe. Those guys are very hard to keep in front when they're attacking downhill, but that's when Miami's rotations should come into play.
Thankfully, the HEAT have looked sharp in their two games since then. We'll see what Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside have in store on Saturday night.
3: Now halfway through the preseason, are we closer to getting some answers to Miami's unanswered questions?
Couper: Not particularly, which is exactly how preseason is designed. You use the first five or six games to experiment with how different lineups work within the system you've designed, then iron out the rotation with a final tune up in the last couple of outings. For a team like Miami with so many new faces and few perfectly designed roles/positions, there's no reason to have answers this early on.
Joe: Kind of. With each passing game, we're starting to get a feel for which guys work well together. As mentioned before, Tyler Johnson thrived alongside Dragic and Waiters against San Antonio. Maybe this time we'll see a different group of players start to gain some chemistry. At the end of the day, you truly never know what you're going to get until you see the lineup combinations in action.
Highlights:
November 17-Timberwolves at HEAT
November 5-HEAT at Timberwolves
Game Notes:
Efficiencies (Rank):
