MIAMI — So who scores for the Miami Heat in the early-season absence of Tyler Herro?
Norman Powell stepped forward with the likely answer in Monday night’s 103-93 exhibition loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Kaseya Center.
Scoring 18 points in his 16 first-half minutes before getting the rest of the night off, the Heat’s prime offseason acquisition stepped up from deep to provide the type of spark that will be needed with Herro expected to miss the first month of the regular season following last month’s ankle surgery.
The 32-year-old veteran appeared far more comfortable with his fit after an uneven Heat debut in Saturday night’s preseason-opening loss to the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico, when he closed with five points on 2-of-6 shooting.
This time he was the first Heat player to score in double figures, his 10th point coming midway through the second period.
“Just finding my spots,” Powell said, “letting the offense work for me.
“It’s all about getting a rhythm.”
Powell not only converted an early 3-pointer, but also drew an early three-shot foul that he converted into three points from the line. He later added a pair of 3-pointers in the second period.
“You can see his ignitability.” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Powell’s offense. “I like what he can do on the drive. He can really get hot from three. Guys were finding him. I think we can definitely build on that.”
The Heat’s six-game preseason schedule continues Wednesday night back at Kaseya Center against the San Antonio Spurs.
Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night’s exhibition:
1. Jovic again: Nikola Jovic again was with the starters and Kel’el Ware again was with the reserves.
As with Saturday’s exhibition opener, Spoelstra opened with a lineup of Powell, Jovic, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Spoelstra downplayed the lineup being any sort of opening-night tell, but did praise Jovic.
“Niko’s played well,” Spoelstra said pregame. “Does that mean he’s going to start Day 1? I don’t know. But I like what he’s doing right now.”
Of speculation that Jovic might be starting to help compensate for the absence of Herro, Spoelstra said, “It has nothing to do with Tyler being out.”
Jovic closed with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists (and no turnovers) in a highly productive 23 minutes.
Spoelstra was most impressed with the rebounding.
“He’s capable of rebounding much better than he has,” Spoelstra said. “It has to be a priority for him.
“He had some good stuff tonight.”
2. The next five: Ware then made his entrance late in the first period, when Spoelstra made a five-man substitution, moving to a lineup of Ware, Keshad Johnson, Dru Smith, Myron Gardner and Trevor Keels.
That change came with the Heat not only remaining without sidelined Herro (ankle), but also without fellow guards Pelle Larsson (quadriceps), Davion Mitchell (calf soreness), Terry Rozier (hamstring) and Kasparas Jakucionis (wrist), as well as forward Simone Fontecchio (leg).
Ware started slow but came around to close with 18 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes, albeit with the Heat outscored by 20 in his minutes.
“It’s got to impact the game,” Spoelstra said of Ware’s statistics. “And that’s part of him as a young player connecting the dots.
“That’s part of it as a young player.”
Said Ware, “It’s about getting to a point where I’m affecting winning basketball.”
3. The Smith factor: Smith again played a meaningful role in his comeback from last season’s Achilles tear.
Even with all of the backcourt injury absences, there remains the possibility that Smith could be the Heat’s opening-night backup point guard.
“Dru’s minutes, they just continue to impact the game,” Spoelstra said. “I just think more people notice it now, but the coaching staff noticed it immediately with him years ago. He just impacts the game. He impacts winning. That’s a hard thing sometimes for people to wrap their minds around.
“He just helps everybody else be who they need to be, because he’s just extremely intelligent.”
Included in Smith’s Monday night effort, even amid the comeback from consecutive years of season-ending injuries (an ACL tear in 2023), was standing in to take a second-period charge.
Smith was limited to eight first-half minutes, as the Heat monitor his return, closing with two points, three rebounds and an assist.
4. The pace race: The Heat’s push for pace continued, even amid the reality that players such as Ware, Powell and Wiggins might be better suited for a less up-tempo approach.
That said, there was an encouraging moment early when the Heat pushed the ball ahead to Powell, who then found a rim-running Wiggins for an alley-oop dunk. Jovic shortly thereafter found Wiggins for a transition 3-pointer.
5. Still quiet: After shooting 0 for 5 from the field against the Magic on Saturday night, Adebayo this time went 1 of 3 from the field, for five points.
Given the second half off along with Powell and Wiggins, Adebayo also had seven rebounds in his 16 minutes.
Wiggins closed with seven points, also playing 16 minutes.
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