Who will shoot and defend for Giannis's Heat

The Miami Heat didn’t have their best defensive half of the preseason, but you saw what will make them great. The Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 144 to 128 as they cruised to victory. Here are my five takeaways from tonight’s game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

He looks poised for an MVP caliber season. He roared out of the gate with 18 first half points, 11 rebounds, five assists and 3 blocked shots. He had some very Lebronesque weak side blocks that Heat fans should be very familiar with, including a chase down.

He is a force of nature but he was not alone tonight despite missing a key starter which we will discuss in a moment. He played a little in the second half and his dominance continued.

Bam Adebayo

The Miami Heat were without Bam Adebayo with a minor groin injury according to head coach Erik Spoelstra. Today proved the Heat have big man depth for the first time in a long time.

The Heat out rebounded Brooklyn. They won the points in the paint battle and still dominated in fast break points.

Nick Richards who filled in as Bam’s replacement along with Bobby Portis Jr. They both played extremely well in the team defensive concepts, rebounding the ball and playing their role. Bobby was on the money from deep and Nick dominated once he got the ball in deep post position.

Giannis and Davion — Oct 8, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) and guard Davion Mitchell (2) high-five against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Who is going to defend for Miami?

The Brooklyn Nets have a lot of ball handling guards. They did a good job of not turning it over against Miami but the defense was felt in other ways. Giannis and Nick Richard were a true deterrent in the paint all night long. Davion, Klay Thompson and others kept getting deflections to disrupt possessions time and time again.

The Heat may only have a hand full of exceptional defenders but everyone else is a solid team defender. This means that you don’t really have someone to attack. They are all high IQ defenders who funnel their man towards the shot blockers.

Who is going to hit shots for Miami?

The Miami Heat shot a blistering 59.1% from the field and 35.7% as team from deep. They have scoring and shooting all over the floor.

The Heat had 8 different players hit three balls and 5 players hit multiple. Their two best shooters had off nights Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr both went 2 for 8 and we know that won’t continue. That’s what makes this team so scary.

The ability to turn defense into offense in the blink of and eye. If you do manage to slow down Giannis there are shooters everywhere.

Bobby Portis is going to prove pivotal in closing lineups when Spo decides to stretch the floor. He chipped in with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. He shot 62.5% from the field and 66.7% from deep tonight. Big man depth and stretch bigs? Are we sure this is the Miami Heat?

The Rookie

BACK TO BACK 3S FOR RYAN CONWELL

STEAL OF THE DRAFT pic.twitter.com/TMjluCAIV5
— The HEAT Realm (@WadexFlash) October 15, 2026

Ryan Conwell got to share the floor with Giannis, which is a role that I have been saying he will be most comfortable in. The reason is he can just catch and shoot. He averaged 9.6 attempts per game from deep last season in college.

Giannis a couple of times tonight would just drive the gap where Conwell sits, wait for the defense to collapse and then hit him for that effortless wide open three and he splashed them down.

The rookie also plays defense. I have loved since summer league how he slides his feet and plays chest up defense. He has a great small guard mentor in Davion Mitchell, and he seems to be soaking everything up like a sponge.

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