1. Another preseason game without many regulars available because that’s the preseason, though Brooklyn was nearly at full strength, but that only means opportunity for others.
At first it seemed Josh Richardson would be one to benefit, with plenty of playmaking burden to shoulder in the absences of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry, but he exited for the evening after six minutes with a right foot injury. So instead, it was Dru Smith soaking up all that usage at first, with seven assists – including a nice open floor find of Nikola Jovic – in the first half and 10 overall. Later, it was a guy like Haywood Highsmith working a bit with the ball in his hands, dribbling into push-shots and even a pull-up three, while auditioning for three-point contest at 3-of-3 in the first half.
It hasn’t exactly been a seamless preseason, with injuries preventing many answers to some of the rotational, stylistic and developmental question you might have had for the early stage of this slate, but if there has been one no-doubter it’s that Highsmith (15 points on eight shots) looks every bit like an NBA rotation player. The shot is there. The defense has always been there. He plays hard. He plays tough. He fits. Everything we’ve been talking about Jamal Cain doing this past week, Highsmith was doing this time last year. Now Highsmith is at the stage of his career where he looks ready to be an every-night player. Whether the current roster will allow for that is a different matter, but it’s tough to argue Highsmith hasn’t made the most of his opportunities for the past 12 months. And we know Erik Spoelstra trusts him because he played him in some important spots during the Finals run.
As for the game, even the depleted HEAT kept pace, and then some, with a Nets team running everyone it had available until the fourth. Not too surprising for preseason, where the guys fighting for their careers often play at a different intensity than veterans finding their rhythm, but that’s also a credit to Spoelstra and his staff. No matter who is on the floor, they’re put in the best spots possible to thrive. Another clutch game, this one ending 107-104 in Brooklyn’s favor in the final minute, which means it’s 4-of-4 in the preseason. Is there a preseason clutch record? Maybe? These things matter.
2. Preseason is preseason, but you can sometimes tell what a coach thinks about a player by how they’re used very early on. And you can tell that Erik Spoelstra trusts what Thomas Bryant is adding to the offense. You can tell by the way that Bryant is used in many of the same sets as Bam Adebayo, particularly in bench units when Herro is running the action, and you can tell by the way, on a night like tonight, the offense was running through Bryant’s steady hands with nearly all the team’s ballhandlers out. There were elbow touches for handoffs, post touches as the team tried to run their splits and plenty of high screens. Little of it is going to wow you beyond the occasional finish – watch Bryant’s second or third step when he puts the ball on the floor, he covers more distance at the end of his dribble, with more force, than it looks like he will – but few teams are asking to be wowed by their backup centers. Trust and consistency is the name of that game.
As for the player Bryant is backing up, Adebayo only played in the first half but spent just as much time attacking Nic Claxton as he did Jaren Jackson Jr. on Sunday. The result was often one of his patented mid-range jumpers, but it was often a result that came swiftly and decisively. Adebayo knows exactly who he is on offense these days.
3. Nikola Jovic returned to the court after missing a couple games with a knee contusion, flashing the same playmaking and vision we’ve seen since his first Summer League. He might not always make the perfect read. Sometimes it’ll even lead to a turnover, as happened after one full-court push where he tried to fire it to the far corner, but then he’ll make an unconventional, snap decision pass which creates an open shot and you see the foundational skillset that can be built around. The shot still needs to prove itself (2-of-6 from three tonight), as does the defense, but every time he plays it’s those handful of passes that catch your eye the most.
Another productive night for Cain, with 14 rebounds and seven points in his 28 minutes. As with Highsmith before him, the roster isn’t always going to hold the opportunity you’ve done enough to earn, but there isn’t much more Cain could have done for himself over the past three games. To a different extent, with a different target role, Cole Swider has done much of the same, adding 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting tonight, including late scores during a comeback bid.