Giannis Near Triple-Double as Heat Beat Nets 144-128

By Taki Panos

Nine assists is a cruel number. It is close enough to ten that everyone in the building starts counting, and far enough away that the box score gets to keep its secret. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished one pass short of a triple-double on Wednesday night as the Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-128 in a preseason game at Kaseya Center, putting up 20 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, one steal and three blocks in 23 minutes and 41 seconds, as the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang reported. It was Miami's fourth of five exhibitions, and it moved the Heat to 3-1 this preseason.

If you are just catching up, the two-time MVP arrived in Miami this offseason in a blockbuster trade after his long run with the Milwaukee Bucks, and these October games are the first real look at how he fits inside Erik Spoelstra's system. Last week he gave the home crowd a poster dunk over Yves Missi in his first game at Kaseya Center as a Heat player. This one was different. It was less about one highlight and more about doing a bit of everything.

He set the tone from the opening tip. In the first 5:31 he had three points, three rebounds and two assists and drew three fouls before heading to the bench for his first rest, and by the end of the first quarter he already had eight points, six rebounds and three assists in eight minutes, per the Herald. Late in the period he fell hard after being fouled on a dunk attempt, then popped right back up, took both free throws and stayed in. The whole arena exhaled at once.

The second quarter is where the defensive side of the trade showed up. Early in the period Giannis ran down Julius Randle for a chase-down block on a layup attempt, and a few minutes later he blocked a Noah Clowney dunk attempt, got the ball back and finished with a spinning finger roll at the other end. That sequence is basically the whole sales pitch in about ten seconds: protect the rim, grab the ball, go score.

By halftime he had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 16:28. Then, for the first time this preseason, he came back out for the second half. Midway through the third quarter he threw a no-look alley-oop to center Nick Richards, and he checked out for good with 4:47 left in the period. His final shooting line, according to the official NBA box score, was 8-of-10 from the field, 0-of-2 from three and 4-of-9 from the free-throw line, and the Heat outscored the Nets by 15 points with him on the floor.

The free throws are the one smudge on the night, along with the four turnovers the box score lists next to his name. Fair math. That conversation has followed him for years, and one October game was never going to settle it. But a 20, 15 and 9 line on just ten shots tells you he barely needed a jumper to bend the game his way. Across three preseason appearances he is now averaging 15.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists, in limited minutes.

The night was not all good news for Miami. Bam Adebayo sat out with right groin tightness and watched from the bench in street clothes, his second straight missed exhibition. Spoelstra did not sound alarmed before the game. "He's day to day, so I'm not overly concerned about it," the coach said, per the Herald. Guards Pelle Larsson (illness) and Dru Smith (right calf strain) were also unavailable, while two-way forward Keshad Johnson made his preseason debut after a right hamstring strain and scored eight points.

With Adebayo out, Richards started at center and made the most of it, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, five rebounds and a block in about 16 minutes. The Herald notes that Richards is competing for a spot on the standard roster, and that his $3.1 million salary becomes fully guaranteed if he is still with Miami on opening night. Catching a no-look lob from Giannis in front of a sellout crowd is not a bad way to make your case to the front office.

The rest of the projected starting group got its longest run of the preseason too. Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting with six rebounds, Klay Thompson added 12 on 5-of-10 shooting, and Davion Mitchell had 13 points and four assists in 24 minutes. Mitchell also needed six stitches for a cut above his eye in the third quarter, then returned. Nobody learns a new offense in four exhibitions, but this group is starting to look like it knows where everyone likes the ball.

The bench kept the pressure on. Rookie guard Ryan Conwell, the 37th pick in June's draft, scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, hit all three of his threes in the third quarter and posted the best plus-minus on the team. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 14, Bobby Portis Jr. 12 and Simone Fontecchio 11 on 3-of-4 from deep. As a team Miami shot 59.1% and won the paint 62-38, per the box score, while Michael Porter Jr. led Brooklyn with 27 points and Egor Demin added 17.

Here is my measured take. It is preseason, the score will be forgotten by Thanksgiving, and nobody hands out banners for winning an exhibition by 16. What I wanted to see was Giannis looking comfortable as a passer inside a system that moves the ball as much as Miami's does, and nine assists plus a no-look lob suggest that part is arriving faster than expected. The bigger question is not him at all. It is how quickly Adebayo gets healthy, because the whole plan depends on those two sharing the floor once the games count.

Miami has one exhibition left, Friday against the Magic in Orlando, before the regular season opens on Wednesday, October 21, against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center. Giannis has fans everywhere, from Athens to some of the biggest Greek communities in America, and if you want to know how a kid from Sepolia got here, our Giannis profile is a good place to start. For every opening-night update, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. One assist short. We will take it.

Sources: Miami Herald, NBA official box score, NBA.com.

Image: Miami Heat logo, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).