3 Observations from Heat's preseason win over Spurs, including Butler waking up

Three observations from the Miami Heat’s 120-117 preseason win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Kaseya Center.

1. Herro clears out for Rozier

There have been plenty of questions about whether or not Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier can coexist in a functional backcourt, most of them warranted. And while most of the concern is about them holding up on the defensive end (more on that later), it was also fair to wonder if they would step on each other’s toes on offense.

My best-case scenario for Herro and Rozier is just that. They don’t necessarily have to make each other better, they just have to stay out of each other’s way. On Tuesday night, we got an example of a little bit of both.

Herro starts this possession in the corner with Rozier handling the ball above the break on the same side of the floor. The spacing is a bit off. Rather than wait for Rozier to call a ball screen and work his way to the middle of the court, Herro clears out. He sprints in front of Rozier, and Rozier takes the ball into the corner and settles into a step-back jumper that is in his wheelhouse. 

This is a simple but important example of Herro and Rozier hammering out some chemistry. Herro knew where Rozier wanted to take the ball and got out of his way. The Heat scored on a successful possession.

2. Jimmy Butler perks up

Butler took one shot attempt in the first 11 minutes of Tuesday night’s game. He was seemingly going through the motions of his third preseason game. Then, something happened.

He drove to the basket and Chris Paul hooked his arm to send him to the free-throw line. On the next possession, Paul is called for another foul for a moving screen against Butler. Then Paul delivers a hard foul on Nikola Jovic – a noted friend of Butler. Here’s the video. As Jovic posts up Paul, you can hear Butler screaming, “Go, go!”

Butler races over to help Jovic up and starts trash-talking Paul during Jovic’s free throws. For the next 1:08 before halftime, it’s 22 vs CP3. Butler delivered a hard shot at Paul on the next possession and scored eight of his 12 points after he and Paul started going at it. It was the most alive Butler has looked all preseason.

This cut behind San Antonio’s defense is the sort of layer that Miami’s new, five-out offense needs.

3. Quote of the game: Erik Spoelstra on Terry Rozier’s defense

Since Terry Rozier was traded to the Heat in January, Erik Spoelstra has talked a lot about his potential on defense. After the game, I asked Spoelstra what he thought of Rozier’s defense in the preseason so far. Here’s what he said:

“He’s committed to it, he understands how important it is to our defense. For us to be disruptive and to do the things with the activity level. If you don’t have a point-of-attack, aggressive defender, you can still do it, it becomes a little more complex. He’s committed to that. 

“This is also not a reinvention. It’s kind of just remembering. This is the kind of player he was at Louisville. This is the kind of player he was with Boston and at times, it was different schemes in Charlotte. But this is him committing to it, knowing he can expend a lot more energy there, knowing we have a lot of weapons offensively on the other end. But the speed and quickness he brings to both ends of the court, that changes our complexion.”