In a game from which the Miami Heat were hoping to learn a few new things, they had to settle for a familiar reminder in Saturday night’s summer-league opener at the California Classic against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.
In the debut of Heat draft picks Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson, forward Cole Swider showed the outside stroke that had him on a Heat two-way contract last season.
It proved to be one of few Heat bright spots in a 105-66 loss to a similar roster of young players and free agents from the Warriors.
“I think right now with just the first game, everybody is trying to figure out a bunch of stuff,” said Heat assistant Dan Bisaccio, who is coaching the Heat summer roster, “I mean that game was moving a mile a minute for everybody.”
While Ware and Larsson got off to uneven but energetic starts, Swider was up to 12 points at halftime, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. He closed with 17 points, at 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Swider has a qualifying offer for another two-way Heat contract next season, but at the moment remains an unsigned restricted free agent. He thrived last season in his stints with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, but was uneven in his opportunities with the Heat.
While the offseason focus has been on expanding Swider’s game, Bisaccio said the 3-point shooting should never be overlooked.
“Obviously it’s not lost on anybody, when you challenge somebody to improve on a lot of different areas, you can’t always forget what got him here and what his strengths are,” Bisaccio said. “So of course we’re always excited to see him coming off and being able to knock down those shots.”
While Ware, the center out of Indiana who went No. 15 in last week’s NBA draft, went 1 of 6 from the field in the first half, he also had four rebounds and four blocked shots over those opening two periods. Larsson, the guard out of Arizona selected at No. 44 in the second round, was 2 of 7 in the first half, but with aggressive play that got him to the line for five free throws over the opening two periods.
Ware came around to close with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting, with six rebounds and five blocked shots.
“I’ve always been working on my shot blocking, so I felt like the defense was always there,” Ware said. “My shot wasn’t falling today, so I wanted my defense to shine more than my offense was today. So I felt like I did that a little bit.
“It felt good to step out on the court, but first-game jitters. So the second game, it will be way better.”
Larsson scored eight points, shooting 2 of 8 from the field and 3 of 7 from the line.
“There was a lot of good stuff that he did,” Bisaccio said, “and I love his aggressiveness and his ability to draw fouls, and there were a couple of instances where he was a pretty good playmaker.”
The Heat opened with a lineup of Ware, Larsson, two-way player Keshad Johnson and former two-way players Alondes Williams and Swider.
Bisaccio utilized 10 of the 14 players on the Heat summer roster in the first half, including two-way player Zyon Pullin, the undrafted guard out of Florida; Isaiah Stevens, the undrafted guard out of Colorado State who signed a Heat tryout contract earlier in the day Saturday; French big man Neal Sako; and former Houston Rockets first round pick Josh Christopher, the guard who spent time last season with the Heat’s G League affiliate.
James Caron Butler Jr., the son of Heat assistant coach Caron Butler, also saw action for the Heat late in the game.
Unlike regulation NBA games, summer-league games are played with 10-minute quarters instead of 12-minute periods.
The Warriors led 19-12 at the end of the opening period, 50-34 at halftime and then 80-45 going into the fourth quarter.
Heat summer-league schedule
(All times Eastern)
California Classic
(San Francisco, Chase Center)
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. vs. Kings (split squad), NBA TV
Wednesday, 7 p.m. vs. Lakers, ESPN2
NBA Summer League
(Las Vegas, UNLV)
July 13, 6:30 p.m. vs. Celtics NBA TV
July 15, 6 p.m. vs. Thunder, ESPNU
July 17, 3 p.m. vs. Mavericks, ESPN2
July 19, 9 p.m. vs. Raptors, ESPN+
(Plus at least one additional game in Las Vegas, based on results from previous four.)
