It only took one quarter of NBA Preseason action for the Miami Heat to showcase what many expect to be the biggest change to their offensive philosophy this season. They're going to play fast, and it showed early on in their preseason game against the Orlando Magic.
The offense wasn't always pretty for the Heat, but it's pretty clear that they're making it a priority early on in training camp. Even the Heat broadcast noted that Erik Spoelstra had been implementing a 16-second shot clock in practice in hopes that the team would learn to play faster.
That's exactly what we saw from the Heat early on during their first preseason game Saturday night. Especially with the way the Heat's roster is built, anyone on the team's starting 5 has the ability to push the ball up the court.
Even if not by design, that's probably how Spo prefers it. If the Heat are going to play faster this season, that's going to be a necessity.
At this point, especially without a star player on the roster, the big question is not necessarily if the Heat is going to play at a faster pace this season, it's how much faster they're going to play.
Last season, the Heat played at one of the slowest paces in the league. In fact, the last time the Heat played at even a league-average pace, LeBron James was still on good terms with Pat Riley. Yes, the last time the Heat were ranked in the middle of the pack in the NBA in pace, LeBron was still in a Heat uniform.
It won't be an easy change for the Heat, but they're clearly putting a focus on it this season.
A surprise in the Heat's starting 5?
As a somewhat of an interesting twist, or at least a noteworthy observation, it was Jovic who got the first nod as the starting big next to Bam over Kel'el Ware. This is not to say that Jovic is going to be the starter on opening night, but it does give a sense that he may have the upper hand.
That probably should've been one of the easiest predictions after Jovic was signed to an extension, but it was interesting to watch it play out in real-time.
It's just one game, but it's certainly something to keep a close eye on as the preseason plays out over the next couple of weeks.