Heartening Heat moments from Butler, Adebayo, Larsson in exhibition loss in Charlotte

At a time of year when the score stands as an afterthought, the Miami Heat found answers beyond the scoreboard in Tuesday night’s 111-108 preseason loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.

Jimmy Butler played, his first preseason action in two years.

Bam Adebayo loaded up with 3-point attempts, an encouraging sign of an expanded offensive repertoire.

Nikola Jovic settled in at power forward, offering a hint of what might follow with Erik Spoelstra’s lineup.

And there was enough kid stuff to create hope going forward.

“It was good to get that game conditioning in,” Spoelstra said of the preseason opener. “It always feels a little bit different no matter how many years you’ve played. Our guys have been working extremely hard. But it was good to face somebody else.”

Butler played 15:35 and finished with 11 points, in his first action since being sidelined with a knee injury in last season’s play-in opener.

Adebayo shot 2 of 5 on 3-pointers as part of his 17-minute effort, closing with 13 points and six rebounds.

Jovic paired well with Adebayo in the starting lineup, finishing with nine points in 16 minutes.

There also was 10 points from second-round pick Pelle Larsson and 13 from first-round pick Kel’el Ware.

The Heat had a chance to tie down three off a timeout with 7.5 second to play, with Ware off on a 3-point attempt.

“We just weren’t able to get over the top,” Spoelstra said.

The Heat were without Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr., due to a pair of groin strains that the team has termed minor. Also sidelined was veteran guard Josh Richardson, who continues to work his way back from last season’s shoulder surgery.

With Thursday’s home exhibition against the Atlanta Hawks postponed until next week due to Hurricane Milton, the Heat do not play again until Sunday’s 3:30 p.m. exhibition against the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center.

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s exhibition against the Hornets:

1. Lineup reality: Spoelstra for the second consecutive night offered a hint into the likely opening-night lineup.

As in Monday night’s intrasquad scrimmage at Kaseya Center, Spoelstra opened with Adebayo, Jovic, Butler, Terry Rozier and Alec Burks an apparent lineup placeholder for Herro.

Spoelstra has stressed the desire to get and play Adebayo, Butler, Rozier and Herro together as much as possible in the preseason, with it becoming increasingly evident that Jovic could join those four in the opening-night lineup.

The starters played only the first half.

2. Second unit: Spoelstra then came with a mass substitution late in the first period, inserting Larsson, Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson and Dru Smith, with Kevin Love inserted moments later for 10 deep.

With Herro eventually expected to play with the starters in place of Burks, and with Jaquez a likely second-unit choice over Smith, the framework of the regular-season rotation already could be coming into focus.

Larsson, Highsmith, Robinson, Smith and Thomas Bryant started the second half, with Love also given the second half off.

“I thought all three units at various times did some good things.” Spoelstra said.

3. Stepping in:  For Butler, it was his first exhibition action in two years, his last preseason play coming when he appeared in two exhibitions in 2022.

After playing without attempting a shot in Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Kaseya Center, Butler stepped up with a first period 3-pointer, with five points in his initial eight-minute stint.

The action was a heartening development, with Butler having missed 22 games last season, then sidelined, as well, for the playoffs.

4. Bam boom: A night after shooting 5 of 11 on 3-pointers in Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage, Adebayo loaded up from beyond the arc on his first two attempts Tuesday night, missing the first and converting the second.

Adebayo routinely set up in the corners, in one case stepping out of bounds in the first quarter when he stepped on the sideline while attempting to drive.

Adebayo’s second 3-pointer came in the second period from the corner off a drive-and-kick feed from Jovic.

Eight of Adebayo’s nine shots came either from beyond the arc or in the paint.

5. Larsson again: After leading the Heat in scoring in Monday’s scrimmage, Larsson again showed that rotation minutes could be possible for the No. 44 pick in last June’s draft out of Arizona.

Larsson converted his first four shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, closing 4 of 5 from the field.

“He’s been steady and consistent pretty much all of camp, all of September,” Spoelstra said, “most of the summer, as well, for that matter.

“And so, with Jaime out, he can be plugged into that role, and did some very good things.”

Ware then came on late, in a lineup that included fellow Heat summer-league teammates Keshad Johnson, Isaiah Stevens, Josh Christopher and Caleb Daniels.

“Right away you noticed him defensively,” Spoelstra said of Ware. “He had his moments.

“I was encouraged by how he played.”