0-5. When your preseason looks like this on the sheet, it’s only fair to worry. The Miami Heat’s back-to-back preseason games are not looking in their favor. While the Heat tried pairing a fresh combination of Bam Adebayo and Kelee Ware for the first time this preseason vs the Hawks, the results were still devastating. The biggest buzz, of course, revolves around Bam Adebayo and rightfully so. With Jimmy Butler no longer in Miami, the mantle of leadership falls squarely on Bam’s shoulders or perhaps, given recent injuries, on his knees.

The Miami Heat took the court against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, but their star, Bam Adebayo, had to sit out due to a right knee contusion. He left the game in the third quarter and headed to the locker room, sparking concern among fans about the team’s future. Head coach Erik Spoelstra tried to calm nerves, telling reporters, as Tim Reynolds, an AP NBA writer, shared on X, “Bam Adebayo (knee contusion) not returning to the game was precautionary, and the Heat are returning home with every expectation that he’s fine.”

He ended the game with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, missed all three of his three-point attempts, and added five of seven from the free-throw line, along with nine rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes. His status will be closely watched ahead of Friday’s preseason finale against Memphis. If it’s just a precaution, then that’s reassuring. Otherwise, the preseason is already off to a rough start, and the Heat’s outlook for the season is looking even bleaker.

In the first part of the game, Coach Spoelstra gave Bam Adebayo and Kelee Ware shorter, split-up playing time because Nikola Jovic was out due to injury. Bam scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds in less than 20 minutes, even though he hadn’t been shooting well before in the preseason. Norman Powell, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and a tryout player, Ethan Thompson, each scored 17 points, but the team only made 5 out of 34 three-point shots. 

With just two preseason games and a charity scrimmage left, the regular season is looming on October 22 in Orlando. Bam Adebayo hasn’t looked quite himself yet, and it’s easy to see why. With Tyler Herro set to miss at least the first month of the season, Bam is being asked to shoulder more of the offensive load than usual.

He’s still adjusting to new lineups, figuring out how to mesh with Norman Powell, and learning a slightly different style of offense. All of that, combined with the pressure of leading the team, seems to have left him a bit off-balance in these early games.

Through the first two preseason matchups, Bam has struggled with his shooting, going just 1-for-8 from the field, and hasn’t looked entirely comfortable on offense. It’s clear he needs to simplify his approach instead of forcing himself into the paint for fouls or trying to do too much at once, he needs a more natural rhythm to his game. At the same time, Miami has to be careful not to overload him; playing heavy minutes on both ends of the floor without support isn’t sustainable. 

Atlanta, without most of their regular starters, managed to grab more offensive rebounds than Miami would have liked, even though the Heat were playing with a bigger lineup. On the other side, Miami’s spacing looked messy, which isn’t surprising since this was the first time the big players were on the court together with Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, and Andrew Wiggins.

It’s hard to take any big lessons from such a short experiment. Last season, lineups with Ware and Adebayo were great on defense but struggled to score. And to make things trickier, the Hawks weren’t even using most of their main players—Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Zacharie Risacher all sat out. So it wasn’t a full test for either team.

What is next for the Miami Heat?

Last season was a rollercoaster for the Miami Heat. They finished 37-45, landing the 10th spot in the regular season, but still managed to sneak into the playoffs through the play-in tournament. Clutch games were a struggle, and honestly, if they had won just half of those tight contests, they could’ve been fighting for a top-four seed in the East, as per analysts like Tim Bontemps. It wasn’t all bad, though this team showed that when it matters, they can rise to the occasion.

This offseason brought some interesting lineup experiments. The Heat have three starters locked in for the regular season: Bam Adebayo (health permitting), Norman Powell, and Andrew Wiggins. Each of them has started in all four preseason games they’ve played, but the other two starting spots are still up in the air.

Up front, it looks like Nikola Jovic has the edge over Kel’el Ware to start alongside Adebayo. Jovic has started in all his preseason appearances, averaging 7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and four assists per game, while Ware only got a chance to play with Adebayo in the fifth preseason game—so barring injury, Jovic is the likely starter.

The backcourt situation is also a bit of a puzzle with Tyler Herro sidelined. It’s a toss-up between Davion Mitchell and Kyle Smith. Smith started over Mitchell in the first game they were both available, making him the favorite to open the season as Powell’s backcourt partner. But Mitchell looked strong off the bench with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, four rebounds, and a steal in 22 minutes, showing he could still earn minutes as he works back from a calf issue.

Analysts Jason Timpf has a slightly different view from Bontemps. He doesn’t try to guess where the Heat will finish in the regular season. Instead, he focuses on how well the team could do in the playoffs. For him, the key is coach Erik Spoelstra. Timpf believes Spoelstra is so good at coaching and preparing the team that Miami can spot other teams’ weaknesses and take advantage of them when it really counts.

So, what should we keep an eye on for the Heat? First, how Norman Powell plays with Davion Mitchell on the court. Then, we might see Kel’el Ware getting more minutes to show what he can do. And there’s Simone Fontecchio, who the team got in exchange for Duncan Robinson. He could be useful because he’s tall and can shoot well, but he’s been dealing with an injury. If he gets healthy in time, he might get some playing time.