The HEAT opened the In-Season Tournament with a game against the Wizards, who allowed 118.3 points per 100 possessions and finished the previous season ranked No. 21 in defense. This was the HEAT’s first game after competing against a series of opponents with outstanding defensive personnel.

It showed, as Miami had an Offensive Rating of 147.8 in the first quarter, basically getting whatever shots that they wanted and enjoying unimpeded lanes to the basket. This was especially true after Danilo Gallinari replaced Daniel Gafford at center. The problem was, at least in the early going, Washington was enjoying what might end up being one of the most productive first quarters of the season. They made ten of their first eleven shots and all five of their first five three-point attempts. This could end up being one of the most efficient first quarters of the season. However, despite the fact that Washington had only missed two shots through the opening eight minutes of the game, they were behind by two points as a result of a string of mistakes.

Once Washington’s bench units began to slow down in response to Miami’s full-court pressure, the cutting lanes closed off. However, Washington’s defense continued to allow the same looks it had been allowing before, and the HEAT began to create a little space, eventually going up by as many as ten points before the end of the second quarter. Jaime Jaquez Jr. drove inside for a couple of exciting layups, while Tyler Herro was in complete command of the game with 12 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. A total of eight Miami players scored at least four points in the game. Despite only having a six-point advantage at the half, Washington was off to a scorching hot start from the field, so even a slight advantage was vital.

After a couple minutes of play in the third quarter, Miami led Washington by 13 points, and Washington players were running into screens like walls. Meanwhile, Herro broke open comfortably, while Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler slid off the ball to get easy touches in the lane. There was some opposition, but it wasn’t very strong. A astonishing disparity in the quality of shots taken by both teams existed by the time the third quarter was winding down, and it gave the impression that Miami had a 20-point lead. It is beneficial to have a shooting percentage of sixty percent (12 of 20) from three-point range, but that will only occur when you are aware that terrific looks are on their way to you.

No need for the clutch this time as the HEAT advance to 2-4 and 1-0 in their In-Season Tournament group with a final score of 121-114. Despite Washington pulling back within 10, after a 15-0 run, Spoelstra decided to reinsert Adebayo and Butler rather than cruise with his bench.

2. Herro had previously been playing well before to this game, which he described as “another excellent, patient, and controlled game” (24 points on 17 shots, 10 rebounds, and nine assists), and he came close to recording a triple double for the majority of the evening. This is a much more critical night for the club as a whole to get back on track after Erik Spoelstra said that they spent a significant portion of practice the day before getting their approach perfect. This comes after the first five games of the season, which were largely ineffective.

The degree to which the HEAT casually eviscerated the Wizards defense in the 41-point third, cutting through it like butter at a jogging pace, cannot be overstated. However, you play who is in front of you, and sometimes you just need a game to get everything back on track, from the spacing to the ball movement to the shot selection, and the oh-so-important oh-so-important spacing. When it comes to determining what a team is capable of accomplishing when everything is clicking and the shots are falling, you just need to see it happen at this point in the season.

Did Miami’s offense demonstrate tonight that it is among the best in the league? Not likely. However, they demonstrated that they are capable of having great offensive performances, albeit against a defensive unit that was not as strong. There were portions of the previous season in which that was the sort of data that we had to work on in order to forecast the team’s viability in the postseason. There is a possibility that there is more to demonstrate; but, you have to begin somewhere, and this, with a scoring average of 121 and 35 assists on a total of 48 points scored, is as solid a beginning as they could have possibly made it.

3. Changes to the starting lineup can only be so dramatic in the first two weeks of the season, especially when you open the schedule with multiple potential rotation players on the injury report. Nevertheless, the most important big-picture item to come out of this game was Haywood Highsmith taking over starting duties for Kevin Love after Jaime Jaquez Jr. had previously been given an opportunity in Highsmith’s first game back from his knee injury. 4. Haywood Highsmith took over starting duties for Kevin Love after Jaime Jaquez Jr.

It wasn’t a very exciting night for Highsmith (eight points, two of three from deep), but Highsmith isn’t the type of guy who is going to do that very often, just like P.J. Tucker wasn’t the type of player who was going to do it very frequently. Again, similar to Tucker from two years ago, Highsmith’s role is to provide strong, multi-positional defense on one end of the court while also being a solid spot-up shooter on the other end, and we haven’t seen anything to suggest that he won’t be able to or won’t deliver precisely that. Given Spoelstra’s track record, as long as the Heat continue winning at a respectable rate, he will stick with his most recent change. This means that there is a good probability that Highsmith will be a starter for at least the near future if everything works out as planned.