Early returns to st Yannis Antecumpa-Bam Adebayo was not good. The Heat were outscored by 46.9 points per 100 possessions in the 34 minutes they played together in the first two games.
Minnesota coach Chris Finchwhose team beat the Heat in the season opener, believes the pair will quickly become a dominant force.
“They’ll figure out how to play off each other really well. It just takes time.” Finch said, trans Anthony Chung of the Miami Herald. “Trying to merge the big networks is a lot harder. I’ve done it many times. It’s a lot harder to merge the big ones than the small ones, and a lot of it has to do with just positioning and understanding that and whatever their offense is. I can’t talk about it, but it’s going to happen to them, and there will be a few of them, no doubt.”
Adebayo scored just four points in 23 minutes against the Pistons on Friday.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Heat never led Friday in Detroit’s 17-point win. “Here we are” Heat trainer Erik Spoelstra told Chan and other media representatives. “So we’re getting to know each other early in the season. Our preseason was great and everything was great in training camp. It was pretty smooth, it was pretty easy, you could see where we were going and where we were going to be. But we had a little bit of adversity to start.” A starter unit that also includes Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wigginsscored 18 points in 13 minutes spent together. The Heat are currently playing the second game of a back-to-back against Charlotte. “Probably the best thing we can do is go on the road with a tough swing and less than 24 hours before the next game.” Spoelstra said.
- The Hornets are not approaching the match against Miami with a positive attitude. They were beaten Hawks on Friday, 128-81, the largest margin in Atlanta franchise history, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The hawks guard Dyson Daniels had seven steals in 23 minutes. “This game was just gifted to me. I’m not going to lie.” – he said in a TV interview. Daniels is in the first year of a four-year, $100 million extension signed last October.
- Magic security guard Anthony Black has yet to make his season debut due to an ankle injury, but is getting close. He participated in a team shootout on Friday, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. “No failures, no” A magical coach Sean Sweeney said. “He’s doing a good job, still developing and looking good. So (we’re) excited to see how he’s progressing, and when he’s ready to go, we’ll get him.” Black failed to reach agreement to extend the rookie scale before it expires this month.
