Comment on Winderman’s view: An opening night to forget for the Heat, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo

MIAMI – Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 116-97 loss to the Orlando Magic: – Forget all the bells and whistles. – The preseason talk of pace and space and 3-pointers. – For the Miami Heat to be the best version of the Miami Heat, it has to start with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. – That made this one particularly disconcerting. – For much of the night, it was as if they weren’t there. – At halftime the two were a combined 1 of 10 from the field. – With Tyler Herro the Heat’s best player to that point. – Nikola Jovic, at least on offense, second best. – With Terry Rozier also providing energy. – Which is all well and good. – But those four preseason appearances by Butler did not lead to a player ready from the outset of the season. – And while Adebayo got to the foul line, there has to be more there, too. – The pace and space and threes certainly can fuel the Heat’s greater good. – But is it a style in the best interest of Adebayo and Butler? – Because if not, then there just is not much there there. – As was previewed during the preseason, the Heat opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Jovic, Butler, Herro and Rozier. – Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson were inactive on their Heat two-way contracts, with Dru Smith active. Related Articles Miami Heat | Heat celebrate Pat Riley then crumble in 116-97 season-opening loss to Magic Miami Heat | Pat Riley gets emotional about Jerry West element of Heat court dedication Miami Heat | Back end of Heat opening-night roster offers case studies in patience, perseverance, potential Miami Heat | ASK IRA: Does state of the Heat offer hope for a healthy start, season? Miami Heat | Dave Hyde: Don’t sleep on Miami Heat even as basketball world zzzzzzzz …. – But with coach Erik Spoelstra electing to go without a true backup point guard. – Then, shortly before tipoff, the Heat announced that Kevin Love would not be available due to personal reasons. – Although sidelined by a heel issue and not in uniform, Josh Richardson was technically active for the game. – Duncan Robinson addressed the crowd pregame, ending with “Let’s have a great year.