Miami Heat beat the Detroit Pistons 103-102: Quick takeaways

Hey, it's Enid Scholar for Five on the Floor on the Five Reasons Sports Network on the Five Reasons YouTube channel at Koscius Center. After the Miami Heat win their season opener, a clutch game. Of course, it had to be just like last season, although it really shouldn't have been tonight. They beat the Detroit Pistons who are rebuilding right now. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo led the way in scoring. Tyler Hero struggled from the field tonight. They got good contributions off the bench from Jaime Jaquez in his first game, made an impression. Thomas Bryan and then Duncan Robinson had 15. But again, things kind of fell apart in the fourth quarter with the starting lineup when it was put back in there. We have discussed our concerns with that. Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry started the game and finished the game. Kevin made contributions. Kyle Lowry didn't take a shot until his 31st minute and it clanked off the backboard and it looked to me like that kind of squeezed their space tonight. Alex, your overall thoughts on the game? So honestly, I mean, I agree with you. Kevin Love had a good game. I think he looked like the guy that we saw in the playoffs, filling in the gaps on defense, not looking too bad, hitting shots, you know, got the nine boards. He's doing his job. I liked what I saw from him. I actually thought even though Jimmy didn't shoot well, I thought he played a great game, was really active on the defensive end and, you know, making plays for everybody, doing what he does. I thought he looked great in the first quarter. I thought Bam had a very good game. Tyler was obviously very erratic. We knew he was going to come out firing this season. I don't think that's what we expected when we said coming out firing and missing, right? It was more about making. But regardless, I'm not too concerned about it. You know, Kyle, I just I don't see it. I don't see the utility for him in the starting lineup. He wants to set up other guys. The guys in the starting lineup don't really need setting up. So that remains the same to me. I love what I saw from him. And honestly, I think the other biggest story was just Hawkins. He had like we were saying in the hallway with Brady is just the loudest six points. Right. It felt like he scored 15 or something. He was just making plays out there, making the extra pass. He plays with amazing pace. I love the way he gets his shot. They were setting him up to work in the post and kind of, you know, work out of there. So it's cool to see him. I mean, them empower him and, you know, put him to play his own game right from game one. They didn't ask him to fit in with the stars. Just come off the game, get buckets and I mean, come off the bench, get buckets and play your game. And that's all it's about. So, I mean, you know, Richardson and Highsmith coming back. I think they've got a nice little rotation. And I think Hawkins is going to have to find his way in there sooner than later. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned no Highsmith, no Richardson. And Caleb Martin's clearly rusty at this point. And I think that's one of the reasons why we saw the starting lineup close. But I actually like what I see from the bench more than I like what I see from the lineup. You know, you talk about not just Hawkins, but Thomas Bryant's energy was tremendous tonight. Last year, last season, when Bam and Jimmy were off the floor, it was panic time. It didn't look like that. They've got guys that can play through offensively off the bench, whether it's Bryant, whether it's Hawkins, Duncan Robinson, getting his looks. And Caleb will round into shape eventually. And again, when Highsmith and Richardson are back, they'll have more options defensively at the end of games. My concerns are, again, with the starting lineup. And it's not just Lowry, although it's primarily Lowry. It's also that it still seems to me like Hero and Butler are taking turns. And the fact that Jimmy didn't play in the preseason and Tyler had the ball in his hands so much, they've got to work that out as this goes forward. Because it can't just be one guy for a few possessions and then another guy. They've got to figure out a way to collaborate. The one player we haven't mentioned much is Bam. I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight for the Heat, actually. The most consistent, looking for his shots. A couple shots, he took out a rhythm. I'd rather he do that than not shoot. And I just think Bam's going to have a great season this year. And I think Tyler will be fine, but he got blocked seven or eight times. He's got to be, he's got to go to the floater sometimes, maybe not go all the way to the basket. He got to the rib, but the ball didn't get to the rib. That was a problem tonight. Anyway, this is one of those escapes, I think, that you take. But there's going to be a step up in competition as they go out on the road. Eating the pistachios is a win every time. They need to clean this thing up a little bit. And I think that's what we take from tonight. Jaquez looks ready. Bryant looks like a good addition. Caleb needs to get the rust off. Jimmy and Tyler need to figure it out. And Kyle Lowry probably needs not to play so much. Or at least if he's going to, shoot occasionally. Make them guard you. That's what we're talking about here. OK, Ethan, Alex here. Make sure you check out the pod later. Greg will be hosting. That'll be on the channel as well.