Assessing the disappointing debut of the Miami Heat's new-look starting lineup

On a night where Pat Riley was honored in the presence of many franchise legends like Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat were humiliated by the Orlando Magic 116-97 on Pat Riley Court at the Kaseya Center on Wednesday night.

The Heat trailed 58-54 at halftime, and instead of starting the second half motivated and determined after Riley's speech and stories about Heat greats, Miami was lethargic on offense, which resulted in the Magic getting a lack of momentum offensively. what they wanted. And in no time, the Heat found themselves trailing by as many as 32 points. The game was over before the fourth quarter began.

Early in the game, the Heat had very few bright spots in transition, as Nikola Jovic scored a few easy layups and Jimmy Butler delivered a powerful dunk off Tyler Herro's lob, which happened to be Butler's only field goal of the game. Herro also had a very strong start to the game, scoring 14 points in the first half and making five of his first six shots.

Miami got productive play from the backcourt in the first half, but there wasn't much use for Adebayo and Butler, who combined for just two field goals in the entire game. There were instances where Adebayo and Butler scored in threes rather than being involved in an offensive set, which doesn't happen often with your two best players.

As the second half began, Orlando's defensive intensity was too much for Miami as the Magic forced turnovers with their constant ball pressure and the Heat had no answer other than trying to recover the three balls.

This ultimately led to the defense being affected, which had nothing to do with what was shown in the preseason when Miami with its constant activity when it came to playing in the passing lanes and passing the ball on drives hit, forcing several ball losses.

The Magic put the Heat in uncomfortable positions as Paolo Banchero handled the ball and involved the Heat's guards in the pick-and-roll. Miami was forced to dig in and ultimately led to the Magic rewarding the Heat from downtown as Orlando sank 18 three-pointers. Miami's effort on the defensive line was also shameful, as the Magic recorded a whopping 18 offensive rebounds, leading to a plethora of second chances that set the Heat on fire.

It would be easy to chalk up the Heat's opening loss as simply a single loss, but the Heat struggled to beat teams with a winning record last season, and in their first matchup against a playoff team in the Orlando Magic, the Heat were overwhelmed on their home court .

Heat Nation was very disappointed after last season. And with messages from Jimmy Butler wanting to help win basketball and Erik Spoelstra telling reporters that the team is “getting it done,” the Heat should prove those words to be true on opening night.

Instead, Miami turned in a failed performance and was crushed by its in-state rivals.