The Miami HEAT fell to the Charlotte Hornets 74-67 Saturday afternoon at Amway Center in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Okaro White led the way for the HEAT with 20 points.
1. Bam!
While Bam Adebayo certainly made his presence felt throughout the contest with bone-crunching screens, tough offensive rebounds and some fancy footwork in the post…
…his play in the third quarter was a sight to behold. Midway through the period, Adebayo scored seven straight points for the HEAT thanks to some smooth jumpers and this fantastic and-one tip-in (he also hit the ensuing free throw).
On the flip side of the ball, the big man played great help-side defense and also had some nice sequences one-on-one against Przemek Karnowski and Johnny O’Bryant III.
When it was all said and done, Adebayo tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds (six offensive) to go along with three blocks.
2. White Does A Little Bit of Everything
To put it simply, White put his head down and attacked the basket quite often against the Hornets. In fact, the former Florida State Seminole led the team with 11 free throw attempts. When he wasn’t doing that, White knocked down a handful of jumpers from the perimeter, including a deep three to narrow the deficit to seven with 17.7 seconds remaining. Shortly after that, the forward drew a foul on a three and hit all of his shots from the charity stripe.
On the defensive end, White switched often and came through with some great blocks, such as this one on Dwayne Bacon in transition late in the third quarter…
…and this swat on Briante Weber in the fourth.
In addition to his 20 points, White also grabbed eight boards, blocked three shots and stole the ball once.
3. Clavell Sharp on Both Ends
From the very beginning, Gian Clavell was aggressive on Saturday afternoon. He mixed up his offensive approach with nifty finishes at the rim and in-rhythm, catch-and-shoot treys.
Not to mention, he also drew an important charge on Weber with 6:31 left in the fourth and proved to be a cagey defender overall.
Clavell finished with 13 points and eight boards against Charlotte.
Other Takeaways:
-London Perrantes showed his playmaking ability early and often and led the HEAT with five assists on the afternoon. Let’s also not forget this tough layup over Bacon on the break.
Perrantes scored 10 points, grabbed two rebounds and came away with a steal to go along with his aforementioned five assists.
Looking Ahead:
-Up next for the HEAT are the Orlando Magic on Sunday at 3:00 PM. Television coverage is on NBA TV. You can follow the game here.