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Five takeaways from the Miami Heat\u2019s 119-118 overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night at State Farm Arena to drop to 0-5 this preseason. The Heat now returns to Miami to close its six-game preseason schedule on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies at Kaseya Center:<\/p>\n
After most regulars were held out Sunday on the front end of the preseason back-to-back, all of the Heat\u2019s healthy regulars were available on Monday. But a scary moment involving Heat star center Bam Adebayo ensued.<\/p>\n
Adebayo, Simone Fontecchio, Norman Powell, Dru Smith and Andrew Wiggins were given the night off in Sunday\u2019s preseason loss to the Magic in Orlando.<\/p>\n
But Adebayo, Fontecchio, Powell, Smith and Wiggins were available and played on Monday in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
The Heat went with a starting lineup of Smith, Powell, Wiggins, Adebayo and Kel\u2019el Ware against the Hawks.<\/p>\n
The Heat used Jaime Jaquez Jr., Davion Mitchell, Simone Fontecchio and Pelle Larsson off the bench to complete its nine-man rotation in the first half.<\/p>\n
The last thing the Heat wants to see this preseason then happened early in the second half, as Adebayo came up hobbling after an awkward landing on a shot attempt. The Heat\u2019s three-time All-Star stayed down on the court before getting up and heading straight to the locker room with 10 minutes left in Monday\u2019s third quarter.<\/p>\n
The Heat labeled Adebayo\u2019s injury as a right knee contusion and he didn\u2019t return to the game. But it was encouraging that Adebayo eventually made his way back to the team\u2019s bench to watch the rest of the exhibition.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just landed awkwardly, but he says he feels fine,\u201d Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo following Monday\u2019s preseason loss. \u201cWe\u2019ll see when we get back to Miami. But as you saw, he was able to be out there the whole rest of the way. I just wanted to make sure it didn\u2019t go any worse, so I just kind of sat him from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adebayo, who is the Heat\u2019s highest paid player and captain, totaled 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, 0-of-3 shooting from three-point range and 5-of-7 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes on Monday before exiting the contest early.<\/p>\n
Adebayo has been a durable player during his NBA career. He has played in over 70 regular-season games in each of the last three seasons.<\/p>\n
But with the Heat beginning the regular season next week on Oct. 22, Adebayo\u2019s status for the opener is now up in the air.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Hawks sat most of their regulars on Monday. Among Atlanta\u2019s top players who didn\u2019t play against the Heat were Trae Young, Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Kristaps Porzingis.<\/p>\n
The short-handed Hawks went with a starting lineup of Keaton Wallace, Vit Krejci, Jacob Toppin, Asa Newell and N\u2019Faly Dante against the Heat.<\/p>\n
Powell and Jaquez each finished with a team-high 17 points for the Heat on Monday, as Miami finished 5 of 34 (14.7%) from three-point range.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling good. I\u2019m really healthy,\u201d said Jaquez, who is averaging 12 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field this preseason. \u201cI think all those things can contribute to how I\u2019m feeling right now. I think being healthy is the biggest thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Heat, behind the young and developmental part of its preseason roster, rallied from a seven-point deficit with two minutes left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.<\/p>\n
But after the Heat built a seven-point advantage with 1:10 remaining in overtime, the Hawks kept pushing on their way to the comeback preseason victory. Atlanta won the game on a game-winning three-pointer from Caleb Houstan with 13 seconds left in the extra period to turn a two-point deficit into a one-point lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the fourth quarter and overtime, it was fun to see young guys respond and fight back to take a seven-point lead,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cAnd it was just really unfortunate, really unfortunate that we didn\u2019t walk out of here with a win. But there were some more qualities that we like to see from this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jakucionis was held out of Monday\u2019s exhibition in Atlanta because of right hip soreness that forced him to exit Sunday\u2019s preseason loss to the Magic early. He played just just four minutes against the Magic before leaving the contest late in the first quarter with hip soreness and never returning.<\/p>\n
Jakucionis, who the Heat selected with the 20th overall pick in this year\u2019s draft, has still played in just one full exhibition game through the Heat\u2019s first five preseason contests. He missed the first two exhibitions because of a sprained left wrist before totaling eight points and 10 assists on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs and then leaving Sunday\u2019s game early.<\/p>\n
Jakucionis, 19, admitted to some frustration on Sunday about the fact that he has been limited by injuries this preseason. But Spoelstra downplayed Jakucionis\u2019 ailments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t think this is a big thing right now,\u201d Spoelstra said before Monday\u2019s exhibition. \u201cWe\u2019ll just get proactive about it when we get back to Miami and take those steps. This stuff has been minor, thankfully. But, also, we like how he\u2019s been playing. So all things, too, can be fine in the big picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Heat was also without Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery), Nikola Jovic (lower back pain) and Terry Rozier (strained left hamstring) on Monday. Herro and Rozier have missed the Heat\u2019s first five preseason games, and Jovic missed his second straight exhibition.<\/p>\n
As a rookie, Ware earned consistent minutes and then was promoted to a starting role in January after logging double-digit minutes in just two of the Heat\u2019s first 25 games last regular season. The 7-foot Ware started next to the 6-foot-9 Adebayo to form a double-big lineup for the final three months of the season.<\/p>\n
Ware started 33 games alongside Adebayo last regular season and the Heat posted a 14-19 record in those games with that double-big frontcourt. The Heat outscored opponents by 4.6 points per 100 possessions in the 541 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together last regular season, as the defense produced impressive results but the offense was underwhelming with this duo on the court.<\/p>\n
But Spoelstra went away from the Adebayo-Ware frontcourt look to begin the preseason, as they didn\u2019t play a second together through the first four exhibitions. Instead, Jovic started the first three games alongside Adebayo this preseason before Jovic went out with his back issue.<\/p>\n
However with Jovic unavailable, Spoelstra started Ware and Adebayo on Monday.<\/p>\n
The results weren\u2019t great in Atlanta, but it was a limited sample size. The Hawks outscored the Heat by three points in the 8:03 that Adebayo and Ware played together before Adebayo left the game early in the third quarter with a knee contusion.<\/p>\n
Ware, who entered Monday averaging a league-high 11 rebounds per game this preseason, recorded six points, 11 rebounds, two assists and one block in 21 minutes. It\u2019s the first time that Ware has been held to single-digit points in his five appearances this preseason.<\/p>\n
The three locks to open the regular season as Heat starters are Adebayo (if he\u2019s healthy and available for the opener), Powell and Wiggins. They have each started in the four preseason games they have played in this year.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s some uncertainty surrounding the other two spots in Miami\u2019s starting lineup.<\/p>\n
First, who will start in the frontcourt alongside Adebayo \u2014 Jovic or Ware?<\/p>\n
In each of the three games that Jovic has played in this preseason, he has started alongside Adebayo. Jovic has averaged 7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 2 of 8 (25%) from three-point range in his three appearances this preseason.<\/p>\n
The fact that it took until the fifth game to play Ware alongside Adebayo this preseason indicates that Jovic is the favorite to begin the regular season as the starter as long as he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n
Second, who will start in the backcourt alongside Powell while Herro is sidelined \u2014 Mitchell or Smith?<\/p>\n
Monday marked just the second game that Mitchell has played in this preseason after missing the first three exhibitions with calf soreness.<\/p>\n
Monday also marked the first game that Mitchell and Smith have both been available for this preseason, and Smith started over Mitchell against the Hawks.<\/p>\n
That makes Smith the favorite to begin the regular season as the starter.<\/p>\n
But Mitchell playing off the bench on Monday could also be a product of him working his way back after missing time this preseason because of his calf issue.<\/p>\n
Mitchell was solid on Monday, finishing the exhibition with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 22 minutes Smith added five three points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 17 minutes on Monday, but shot just 1-of-5 from the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re trying to figure it out, trying to get the things together in how we want to play and the identity of the team offensively, defensively,\u201d Powell said of the task in front of the Heat. \u201cI mean we\u2019re learning the rotation stuff, still. We haven\u2019t had a set lineup. I think we\u2019ve only had two games where that unit played together and Kel\u2019el wasn\u2019t in the starting lineup. So we\u2019re just trying to learn the spacing, the cuts, the reads offensively and then defensively, really who we\u2019re going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Heat will now return to Miami to finish the preseason.<\/p>\n
Next up for the Heat is Wednesday\u2019s annual Red, White & Pink Game intrasquad scrimmage at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n
The Heat will then close its six-game preseason schedule on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies before opening the regular season on Oct. 22 against the Magic in Orlando.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that the Heat has held out most of its rotation regulars in recent preseason finales.<\/p>\n
Following Monday\u2019s loss, the Heat is off to an 0-5 start in the preseason for just the second time in franchise history. The other time this happened came in 2007, when the Heat dropped all seven of its exhibitions for the only winless preseason in franchise history.<\/p>\n
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