SoFla Guide Editors
Deep breath, Heat fans. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo both watched Friday night’s 136-115 preseason loss to the Magic from somewhere other than the court, but the reasons are very different, and neither one has Erik Spoelstra sounding the alarm. Giannis sat for rest. Bam stayed home with a tight right groin that the Heat have been calling day-to-day all week.
What happened in Orlando
The Magic took the preseason finale 136-115 on Friday, October 16, at Kia Center in Orlando, according to the ESPN box score. It was the fifth and final tune-up for Miami, which closed the exhibition slate at 3-2, the Miami Herald reported.
Without its two biggest names, Miami rolled out a starting five of Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic at forward and Bobby Portis Jr. at center, per the Herald. Orlando got 24 points from Paolo Banchero and 23 from Desmond Bane, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The bright spot for Miami came off the bench. Rookie Ryan Conwell, a second-round pick out of Louisville in June’s draft, scored 21 points, the Sun Sentinel reported, while Nick Richards put up 9 points and 11 rebounds in just 18 minutes.
“I got some great vets for me, so they make it easy for me,” Conwell told the Sun Sentinel. “I just got to come in every day and work hard and learn. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Spoelstra did not pretend the scoreboard was pretty, but he also did not pretend to care much about it.
“We’ve had a very good training camp. This is not indicative of how we all feel,” he said, per the Herald. “Orlando competed and played very well, particularly those last three quarters. But these last 20 days have been very productive for our basketball team. I’m encouraged in the direction we’re going.”
The injury report, decoded
Let’s take the two absences one at a time, because they are not the same story.
Giannis is the easy one. The Heat listed him out for rest, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He made the trip to Orlando with the team, and the decision to sit him was announced roughly 90 minutes before tipoff, according to the Sun Sentinel. He had already played in three of Miami’s first four preseason games, per the Herald, and across those three appearances he averaged 15.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting 73.1 percent. A healthy superstar resting in a meaningless October game is not a plot twist. It is standard practice.
Bam is the one worth monitoring. Adebayo was ruled out with right groin tightness and did not travel to Orlando at all, staying back in South Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The same issue kept him out of the October 14 game against the Brooklyn Nets, when he was listed as day-to-day, according to the Herald. Two straight exhibitions missed for the same groin is not nothing, but Spoelstra’s tone before the Nets game was about as relaxed as a coach gets.
“He’s day to day, so I’m not overly concerned about it,” he said, per the Herald.
Two other names were missing too. Pelle Larsson sat out the final three preseason games with an illness, and Dru Smith missed the entire preseason with a right calf strain suffered in training camp, the Herald reported.
So the honest answer to the worry question: Giannis, no. Bam, keep an eye on it, but the people closest to the situation are describing it in the mildest terms available.
What’s next for the Heat
The real thing starts Wednesday, October 21, when Miami hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center. The game airs on ESPN, and it marks the first time these two franchises have met on opening night.
It will also be the first regular-season look at a very different Heat roster. Antetokounmpo arrived from the Milwaukee Bucks in a July 6 trade that also brought Portis to Miami, and Thompson signed in August. Friday’s lineup, minus its two anchors, gave a glimpse of the depth around that core. Wednesday should show the whole picture, assuming Bam’s groin cooperates.
Spoelstra, for his part, is already looking ahead.
“We like where we are. The guys are very professional. They’re very mature in their approach,” he said, per the Herald. “We know what’s expected of us, and we’re looking forward to getting started on Wednesday.”
And about those 136 points Orlando hung on his team? He kept it short with the Sun Sentinel: “We’ll get our defense right and ready for Wednesday night.”
Preseason is over. The groin updates, apparently, are not. Check back before tipoff.
