The Miami HEAT face the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The HEAT fell to the Timberwolves 103-91 in their last meeting on November 17. Tip-off is set for 8:30 PM. There will be no television coverage, but you can listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: What encouraged you the most about Miami's preseason opener against the Wizards earlier this week?
Couper Moorhead: The general pace of play and ball movement. It's no secret at all that Erik Spoelstra wants this team playing with, at least, an above-average tempo but it is still positive to see it actually unfold in an actual (preseason) game. It wasn't all predicated on Goran Dragic, either. Guys were looking for outlets, filling the lanes, hitting the open man ahead without putting the ball on the floor and using opportunities off anything resembling a long miss or turnover. Playing like that won't always be possible, especially once teams start using defensive scouting reports during the regular season to jam things up, but its as good a starting point as any.
The assists were great, too, and were representative of a balanced attack, but we'll probably learn a bit more from a game when things aren't flowing as easily as they were against the Wizards.
Joe Beguiristain: The most encouraging thing to me was the pace Miami played at and who initiated it. It wasn't just Goran Dragic going full speed ahead with the rest of the team behind him. Rather, it was newcomers such as Dion Waiters and James Johnson running the break as well. Hassan Whiteside was also part of the foray, as he ran the floor well and converted a fast break bucket with about three minutes to play in the first quarter. Dion Waiters found Whiteside on that possession, and would continue to set up his teammates throughout the contest. In fact, Waiters led the team with eight assists and also threw down some rim-rocking jams in the fourth quarter.
In all, the HEAT tallied 19 fast break points and totaled 97.36 possessions per 48 minutes against the Wizards on Tuesday night.
2: Did any of the lineups being used stick out to you?
Couper: Luke Babbitt starting at power forward seemed to be a nice fit – though Spoelstra used James Johnson in that spot to start the second half – with his shooting creating workable spacing for the Dragic-Whiteside pick-and-roll combination. If Justise Winslow's shot continues to trend in a positive direction, with a much smoother delivery on display Tuesday, then spacing shouldn't be much of an issue with the starters regardless of which of the likely options wind up starting at shooting guard.
The bench lineups, on the other hand, are clearly going to see further experimentation. Having Dion Waiters to help run the show with those units gives Miami's plethora of versatile, skilled players someone to work around, but the offense did get bogged down at times.
Joe: For all the reasons I stated above in my first answer, the backcourt pairing of Dragic and Waiters is definitely worth keeping an eye on. While Waiters did get a lot of work with the second unit on Tuesday, he seemed to feed off Dragic pretty well when they were on the court together.
Like Waiters, James Johnson also looked comfortable with both the starting unit and the second unit. The seven-year vet was signed due to his versatility, and that was on full display against Washington.
Otherwise, Wayne Ellington made the most of his 16 minutes of action. The former Tar Heel shot 2-of-3 from distance and finished with six points. Perhaps he will get some more burn against the Timberwolves.
3: What do you hope to see/hear against the Timberwolves on Saturday?
Couper: First we should note that we won't be seeing this game as it won't be televised, but we'd like to see a continuation of the style of play seen in the first outing along with fewer defensive lapses – particularly in and around the paint. Hopefully Whiteside and Karl-Anthony Town get to spend some time going at one another, with a follow-up preseason match coming shortly, but mostly the opponent doesn't matter nearly as much right now as seeing Miami take a step forward each game. They don't have to take a 20-point lead each time out to do so, either. The threes may not fall as easily as they did Tuesday, but as long as open looks are being generated and the ball is working off penetration then things are headed in the right direction.
Joe: Quite simply, I hope to hear Mike Inglis say that the team is continuing to gel. For a team with so many new players, Miami looked pretty fluid offensively in its preseason opener. If the HEAT can continue to get out in transition for easy buckets and play solid defense (Washington shot just 39.3 percent against Miami), then that would be a step in the right direction.
Regardless, it should definitely be a fun matchup on Saturday night with the up-and-coming Timberwolves on the other side. Of course, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are the first two names that should come to mind, but Minnesota has some talented role players as well. In particular, I'm interested to see how Tom Thibodeau allocates time to Ricky Rubio and Kris Dunn at the point guard spot. After a quiet outing overall against the Wizards, I expect Dragic to be aggressive against the duo.
Highlights:
November 17-Timberwolves at HEAT
November 5-HEAT at Timberwolves
Game Notes:
Efficiencies (Rank):
Note: Not all teams have played yet in the preseason
