The Miami Heat just played their second game of the season. Unfortunately, that game also ended up being their first of the new campaign.
They faced off against the Indiana Pacers, losing 91-102. Kyle Lowry was injured, so Gabe Vincent started in his place.
A bunch of different players played fairly well, but Tyler Herro stole the show. He dropped a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double, but Miami just couldn’t grind out the win.
It was a team effort on the side of Indiana, as no one scored more than 19 points. In addition, they had five different players pitch in 12 or more on the night.
The biggest takeaways fans should have from this game is that Erik Spoelstra gave a sneak peek as to what his nightly rotation will look like. Since their first game was a blowout, this was everyone’s first look at the real rotation.
Erik Spoelstra gave a glimpse at what the Miami Heat rotation will look like
Lowry being out was the only downside to the night. Other than that, everyone’s minutes looked like what they should look like on a nightly basis.
Obviously, since Lowry was out some of the guards’ minutes were inflated. Herro likely won’t end up playing more than 40 minutes a night every game.
However, the general structure of the minutes is probably what Spoelstra is going to roll with for the majority of the year. Here’s what that looked like last night vs. the Pacers.
Herro led the team in minutes with just over 41, but as mentioned, that number will go down once Lowry is back. Just behind him, though, was Jimmy Butler.
Spoelstra will likely only play his guys this much in a tight game but expect Butler to be the leader in minutes most nights. Bam Adebayo was right behind Butler, too.
Once Lowry is back, those four players should lead the team in minutes most nights. Butler, Adebayo, Herro, and Lowry are the leaders on this team, and their production thus far shows that.
Duncan Robinson and PJ Tucker also played over 35 minutes per game. Expect them to play right around 30 on average when close games and blowouts are taken into account.
The rest of the rotation was made up of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Markieff Morris, and Dewayne Dedmon. These are the key role players on the Miami Heat moving forward this season.
While some of the younger players will get some playing time throughout the year, these are the core nine players Spoelstra will be rocking with. Miami Heat fans should get used to hearing their names.