Davion Mitchell needed stitches near his eye in Miami's preseason game and stayed in. He shot his free throws, then got stitched: "this is just going to be a handful of stitches. I want to play." Erik Spoelstra said he still wanted the fourth quarter, and they let him.
Nick Richards has been playing with Miami's starters, and Erik Spoelstra likes it: "I've been encouraged by his minutes in all the games that he's played." He cited Richards' rebounding, paint presence and conditioning. On the opening-night rotation: "I'm not stressed out."
Klay Thompson's fit in Miami: Erik Spoelstra expects him to get 3s off Davion Mitchell's kick-ahead and cross-court passes in transition. "Klay would be a big beneficiary of those kind of plays," he said. His reputation: "you never, ever take a body off of him."
Miami hasn't settled on staggering Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. Erik Spoelstra wouldn't commit: "we'll see where it eventually goes, but it makes sense... to have one of those guys on the floor... as often as you can." He also wants to maximize their time together.
Bam Adebayo says Erik Spoelstra keeping him and Giannis Antetokounmpo apart was probably a test: "we're still trying to figure this thing out. So I know it's not absolute." If the Heat starters get longer stints in the last three preseason games, he expects "more one-on-one."
"Now it was a technical, but Spo said he'll pay it. And do technicals really count in preseason?" Bam Adebayo on Myron Gardner, whose energy sparked the Heat's fourth quarter. Erik Spoelstra is covering the fine, and Adebayo said the team sometimes has to calm Gardner down.