National Basketball Association

Heat observations: New-look Big 3 have sharp outing in preseason loss

Published Oct. 7, 2014 11:43 p.m. ET

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MIAMI, Fla. -- The Miami Heat remain winless in the preseason after they dropped their home opener 108-101 in overtime to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

Though there was improved play from the starters and James Ennis was again an offensive force to be reckoned with off the bench, familiar issues with defensive spacing and rotations remain, as does weak shooting from beyond the arc.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was head coach Erik Spoelstra's decision to start Norris Cole over Mario Chalmers this early into the preseason. He also chose to insert Shawne Williams into the starting lineup instead of Udonis Haslem, who did not play. Cole played well in his unfamiliar role, but Williams struggled with his shot throughout the night, finishing with four points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Orlando held a small lead through much of the night, but the Heat stormed back late to make it interesting. Heat rookie Shabazz Napier, Shannon Brown and James Ennis gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about in the fourth quarter with some big plays on both ends of the floor. Napier knocked down two free throws with two seconds left in the fourth quarter but the Magic's Andrew Nicholson tied the game at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Here are five takeaways from the Heat's loss, with the team packing their bags and heading off to Brazil after the game:

1. Cole gets the start over Chalmers.

Last week after the team's scrimmage, Spoelstra indicated that the point guard battle was "wide open," and he wasn't stretching the truth.

After starting the Heat's first preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Chalmers was benched in favor of Cole for the home preseason opener. The thinking might be that Chalmers could be used as a combo guard off the bench to spell Wade at times and give the Heat a bit more depth at shooting guard, though he was used as the primary ball handler for most of the time he was on the floor.

"I'm looking at a lot of different things," Spoelstra said of starting Cole. "I wouldn't look too much into that but he's had a good week. I wanted to look into that combination. I thought his minutes were rock solid. He made easy plays, got the ball to the other guys. I wouldn't look too much into it because Rio is a big, big piece obviously of what we're trying to do."

Cole notched four assists in the first quarter but only had two more for the rest of the game. He made just one field goal.

2. The team lacks rim protection.

In their first preseason game, the Heat were burned by the Hornets' outside shooting. But against the Magic, it was their interior defense that allowed the visiting team to race out to the early lead and maintain it throughout the game.

Midway through the first quarter, Spoelstra put Chalmers in for Shawne Williams and went small with Wade and Cole staying on the court. The Magic then promptly made three consecutive baskets at the rim before Spoelstra called a timeout to insert Chris Andersen into the lineup.

Through the first half, the Magic's power lineup of Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic lead the team with 12 each on a combined 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Orlando as a team shot 45.5 percent for the night, mostly inside the paint. Though the Heat closed the rebounding gap in the second half, they were again outrebounded by their opponent.

3. Bosh, Deng and Wade form dangerous trio.

The new Big 3 made their debut in Miami and the trio of Chris Bosh, Luol Deng and Dwyane Wade were impressive, as they combined to score 47 points in limited minutes, a big improvement from their 19 total points against the Pelicans.

"I think so far, for it being early, it's OK," Bosh said. "We still have a lot to get used to. It's the same system but implementing different pieces of course out there and different plays a little bit. Reading and reacting to each other is going to take some time but I think from our first game to today, it was a lot better."

4. 3-point shooting remains a concern.

The question remains as to which players among the Heat will be able to consistently score from beyond the arc this season.

As a team, the Heat only mustered five 3-pointers against the Pelicans last Saturday on 15 attempts, and they were even worse Tuesday, finishing with five on 32 attempts. Josh McRoberts, who has been unable to play so far, will help in that category once he returns, but it will something to keep an eye on in the preseason and beyond.

5. Ennis continues to impress off the bench.

James Ennis is proving to be a dangerous playmaker off the bench, and he helped lead the charge late in the game as the starters sat. He led Miami with 17 points against the Pelicans and he again was able to score in bunches to the delight of the home crowd.

It wasn't just his offensive skills that were on display, as Ennis finished with 10 rebounds as well.

"He's a much different player now then he was a year ago coming off that summer league and before he went to Australia," Spoelstra said. "But he's had a lot of development in this building already for two straight summers. He's got a lot of work to do obviously to understand our system. We'll just continue to develop him. We want to invest time in him. Does that translate into a guaranteed role? I don't know, we'll see."

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.