For the third straight time, the Miami Heat opened up their season in Orlando. Miami had a 93-91 lead with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter, but then the Orlando Magic went on a huge run to finish the game. Turnovers and key offensive rebounds by the Magic late hurt Miami. It was a disappointing outcome, but Miami had some good moments. The team will look to bounce back in the next game.
Here are my three takeaways from Wednesday’s loss in Orlando
Turnovers
Turnovers were a huge issue for Miami. The team started the game very sloppy. They made a lot of careless passes that lead to turnovers. The Magic took advantage of the turnovers by scoring 18 points off the team’s 12 first-half turnovers. It didn’t get much better with the team adding 10 more turnovers in the second half.
Miami ended the night with 22 turnovers. Seven of those turnovers came from Bam Adebayo and six from Jimmy Butler. They’ll have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. You can’t expect to win if you’re turning the ball over that much.
Bam’s improved jumper
While the turnovers were bad, Bam Adebayo did well in other areas. The most noticeable development in Bam’s game is the midrange jumper. It was alive and well on Wednesday night. He shot three of them without hesitation and didn’t miss many. In fact, it looked like he only missed one. If he can shoot that shot consistently, then he’ll become much harder to guard.
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Adebayo finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
Precious Time
Precious Achiuwa made his NBA debut on Wednesday night. The rookie showed he was ready and was effective. He was very active on both ends of the floor. If he didn’t grab the rebounds, he’ll tip them out to a teammate. He even had an impressive drive to the rim at the end of the shot clock. Despite not having summer league, the Heat still inserted him in the game to start the season. That should tell you the team is very high on him.
Achiuwa finished with eight points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
Next up: The New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. The game tips off at 12 noon.
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