It has been a secluded preseason for the Miami Heat, with workouts, amid the pandemic, solely behind closed doors at AmericanAirlines Arena.
So as coach Erik Spoelstra raved about the training camp of KZ Okpala, eye rolls easily could have ensued.
Until Friday night.
That’s when the reality was on display for all to witness at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., with the 2019 second-round pick given the start in the Heat’s 117-105 exhibition victory over the Toronto Raptors.
With absences limiting the Heat rotation, including Jimmy Butler remaining behind in South Florida, Okpala got his opportunity and seized the moment, the former Stanford forward closing with 24 points, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers, with five rebounds in his 34 minutes.
“Just hard work and believing in myself, Coach believing in me, and whatever they tell me to do, doing it,” Okpala said. “It’s just being more aggressive.”
As a matter of perspective, Okpala did not score more than seven points in any of his five appearances during his injury-limited rookie season.
With the Heat in search of a power forward to open alongside Bam Adebayo, it was a major step forward for Okpala, especially with offseason acquisition Moe Harkless struggling for the second consecutive exhibition with foul trouble.
Also throwing his hat into the ring for some side-by-side play with Adebayo was first-round pick Precious Achiuwa, who closed with 13 points and 15 rebounds, after averaging a double-double last season as a freshman at Memphis.
The victory closed out a 1-1 truncated preseason for the Heat, who next play their regular-season opener Wednesday against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.
Kyle Lowry, in his preseason debut, led the Raptors with 25 points in 27 minutes.
The Heat also got 22 points from camp hopeful Max Strus, 13 points and nine rebounds from Adebayo, and eight assists in 19 minutes from Goran Dragic in his preseason debut.
———
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s exhibition:
1. No dress rehearsal: As Spoelstra said a day earlier, this hardly was a dress rehearsal, with Butler not making the trip, and with Avery Bradley, Kendrick Nunn and Gabe Vincent away from the team due to injuries.
“We’ve had some really good practices,” Spoelstra said. “That’s been the most important thing. I’ve prioritized that right now.”
That especially has been the approach with Butler, who also was given Monday’s exhibition opener off, with Spoelstra stressing there has been plenty of work for Butler in camp.
“I definitely would not classify that as off,” he said, “not the way our last few practices have gone. Look, I just prioritize that. That’s what I’ve done in this case. The most important thing was our practice time, in our walls, to be able to drill and go five on five and scrimmage.”
2. Getting close: Spoelstra said the hope is to have Nunn (groin), and Bradley (hamstring) ready for Wednesday’s regular-season opener in Orlando.
Vincent, however, could be a different story, with his knee scoped in the brief offseason, after experiencing issues at the end of last season.
“He’s darn close,” Spoelstra said. “He’s been doing just about everything in practice, in pre-practice and post-practice, and just a little bit of contact. He may get cleared to do full contact next week. So he’s really close.
“I’m really pleased with the progress that he’s made. I know that he’s been putting in a lot of time. Just cross our fingers.”
3. KZ’s time: Okpala made his presence felt immediately, with 11 first-quarter points, including opening the Heat scoring with a 3-pointer.
He closed the opening period 4 of 7 from the field, the game’s leading scorer to that point. Included in his initial stint was 3 of 5 shooting on 3-pointers.
Okpala also had his defensive moments, including shutting down Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet on one second-quarter possession.
4. The final spot: The Heat will have to waive at least one player by 5:30 p.m. Saturday to reach the NBA regular-season roster limit.
Based on Spoelstra’s rotations in the two exhibitions, it would appear former Chicago Bulls guard Strus has the clear leg up on former Orlando Magic guard BJ Johnson for the Heat’s final two-way contract.
Strus converted his first three 3-point attempts Friday, again showing the ability to play as a scoring spark off the bench, as he did in Monday’s preseason-opening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Johnson did not enter until 8:27 remained.
5. New vista: Except for the fact that the game was in Tampa, it had a Toronto feel, from the court brought down from Ontario to the building set in Raptors colors.
“I just think this is amazing,” Spoelstra said. “It really is impressive, how quickly they turned it around. It looks like an NBA building.”
The Raptors were forced to relocate due to Canada’s pandemic border restrictions.
“All of this happening in the last several weeks just shows you the power of sport and what you can get accomplished to really continue our season,” Spoelstra said. “It’s a unique situation. It’s good for us. Our trip was really short [Thursday] night.”
