MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 125-120 victory over the Indiana Pacers:
– When it comes to Heat player tiers, Friday night made it clear there are Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and every one else.
– So Jaime Jaquez Jr. as a starter with Andrew Wiggins out.
– Some Terry Rozier in the first half.
– Ahead of Alec Burks.
– And then Burks as a starter in the second half.
– With Kel’el Ware starting that third period on the bench.
– Then some more Rozier in the second half.
– With only a bit of Kyle Anderson along the way.
– With Haywood Highsmith seemingly again a rotation player.
– What does it say?
– What does it mean?
– That there are Herro and Adebayo and then a group best delineated as “everyone else.”
– Going in, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said if his rotations hardly have seemed fluid there is a simple way for his players to address that.
– “Each game is different,” Spoelstra said. “It goes back to that adage I tell in the locker room all the time, ‘Make us watch you. Make us have to play you. Make us have to think about taking you out.’”
– Of having to go without Wiggins for a second time since the forward’s arrival in the Jimmy Butler trade, Spoelstra said, “That’s why we have the depth that we have and that’s why guys stay ready.”
– With Wiggins out due to the ankle sprain he played through Wednesday night against the Hawks, the Heat opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Herro, Ware, Jaquez and Davion Mitchell.
– It was the 15th Heat lineup of the season.
– Duncan Robinson and Highsmith were first off the Heat bench.
– Anderson and Rozier then followed.
– Rozier’s first action in three games.
– Eventually Burks made it 10 deep for the Heat in the first half.
– With Burks’ shooting providing the spacing missing when Jaquez was on the court before Jaquez turned an ankle in the third period and was lost for the night.
– Herro said going in that pace should be a Heat priority.
– “I feel like when we play fast, we’ve got young guys,” he said. “Getting out and running, we play fast, we play better on offense.”
– That often proved to be the case Friday night.
– Herro said optimism has not waned.
– “It feels like it’s going in the right direction ever since we came back from the break,” he said at the morning shootaround.
– He added, “We’ve got the right guys in the locker room to make this work.’
– Herro said that attitude can’t be lost.
– “I think we’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “Like I said, ever since the break kind of ended and came back from break, things just feel better. Things that feel like we’re headed in the right direction. Obviously it doesn’t look like it with the loss column, but we’re just continuing to try to stack days, good day after good day and try to get wins.”
– New University of Miami quarterback Carson Beck sat courtside.
Originally Published: