The Miami HEAT fell to the Orlando Magic 81-68 Sunday afternoon at Amway Center in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Okaro White led the way for the HEAT with 15 points.
1. Bam Shows His Athleticism
One of the many exciting aspects of Bam Adebayo’s game is his ability to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Naturally, that quickness and agility bodes well on both sides of the floor, such as on this play late in the second quarter.
To get things started, Adebayo forced Jonathan Isaac to shoot an air ball and then ran the floor for a flush in transition.
It didn’t end there, though. Later on in the fourth, the former Kentucky Wildcat showed great anticipation on a steal near half court. From there, the big man took it inside and kicked it out to Gian Clavell for the corner three.
Otherwise in the contest, Adebayo absorbed contact inside for a few and-one opportunities and showed some nifty moves in the post, including this smooth hook shot over Matt Costello.
Thanks to the 19-year-old’s all-around sharp play, he filled out the stat sheet with 14 points, nine rebounds (four offensive), two blocks and two steals.
2. White Sticks With It
After a little bit of a slow start, White picked things up in the second quarter and helped Miami get back in the game. In fact, the forward scored seven straight points for the HEAT late in the period, including this aggressive slam over Hassan Martin.
A little later, the 24-year-old hit a key shot with nine seconds left to tie the fourth quarter score. After losing the first quarter 32-9, Miami won quarters two and three and was attempting to also get the fourth. However, Isaac knocked down a jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining to take the period. The standings in Orlando Pro Summer League are determined by a points system in which teams receive four points for a win and a point for each quarter won.
"You're trying to win quarters. But you're also trying to learn and teach these guys late game situations that could help us in Summer League and in the future,” Coach Chris Quinn said. “We don't get a lot of practice time so lots of times during the game is when we can work on things and implement them. We can use game time as practice."
So even though the HEAT fell short in the end, they did accumulate two points against Orlando. In terms of how White finished up the afternoon, he tallied six boards and a block to go along with his team-leading 15 points.
3. Perrantes Continues to Shine
Like on Saturday against the Hornets, London Perrantes created some nice looks for his teammates off the dribble. As a whole, the speedy guard collapsed the defense and kept Miami's offense moving. His most impressive stretch came in the third quarter where he drew a foul after nabbing a steal, hit a floater and knocked down a three in transition.
Once more, the 22-year-old led the HEAT with eight assists to go along with 12 points, three boards and his aforementioned steal.
Other Takeaways:
-Clavell sure knows how to shoot, eh? The fiery guard led Miami with three treys on the afternoon and was always ready to rock. On the defensive end, the 23-year-old continued to show that he won’t back down from anybody. In all, he had 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, three rebounds, one block and one steal.
-In Norvel Pelle’s 11 minutes of action, he fought hard for loose balls and made the kind of energy plays that stand out in Summer League. For a perfect example of that, take a look at this nice block he had on Stephen Zimmerman.
Pelle ended up with just one point, but he also totaled two blocks and a steal.
Looking Ahead:
-Up next for the HEAT are the Indiana Pacers on Monday at 5:00 PM. Television coverage is on NBA TV. You can follow the game here.