The Miami Heat continued summer league action with a 103-83 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer squad on Sunday at Chase Center as part of the California Classic. Here are some observations from the Heat’s loss to the Lakers in San Francisco:
▪ After going with a starting lineup of guards Kasparas Jakucionis and Kira Lewis, forwards Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson, and center Kel’el Ware in Saturday’s 82-69 summer league-opening win over the San Antonio Spurs, the Heat went with a starting group of Jakucionis, guard Bryson Warren, forwards Javonte Cooke and Myron Gardner, and Ware on Sunday on the back end of the summer league back-to-back set.
Lewis, Larsson and Johnson were held out Sunday on the second day of the summer league back-to-back. Their absences were due to rest, with no injuries involved.
▪ Ware, who closed last season as the Heat’s starting center on his way to being selected for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, finished Sunday’s loss with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field, 1-of-4 shooting on threes and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds and one block in 28 minutes.
The highlight of the day for Ware came in the second quarter, when he dribbled his way into a step-back jumper that went in for his first made three-pointer of summer league after going 0 of 4 from three-point range in Saturday’s summer opener.
Improving as a three-point shooter is among the things on Ware’s to-do list this offseason. The 7-footer shot 35 of 111 (31.5 percent) on threes last regular season as a rookie.
But the Heat’s coaching staff wants to see Ware dominate in his second summer league after establishing himself as one of the NBA’s top rookies last season. With just three rebounds on Sunday, more will be expected from Ware in the coming weeks during summer league.
▪ Following a quiet summer league debut on Saturday, Jakucionis was again quiet in his second summer league game. He recorded four points on 0-of-3 shooting from the field and three-point range (all four of his points came at the foul line), one rebound, two assists and three steals in 21 minutes in Sunday’s loss.
The 19-year-old Jakucionis, who was selected by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in last month’s draft, has totaled just seven points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field, 0-of-7 shooting on threes and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line through his first two summer league games.
Jakucionis continues to struggle with turnover issues, committing five turnovers on Sunday. He has now totaled eight turnovers to three assists through his first two summer league games.
Jakucionis’ first turnover of Sunday’s contest came in the opening seconds, as he was trying to spin away from his defender in the paint and Lakers guard Bronny James raced over to strip the ball away. James turned that steal into a transition dunk on the other end.
Jakucionis also dealt with a turnover problem in his lone college season. He averaged 3.7 turnovers per game for an exceptionally high turnover rate of 25.4% while playing in a high-usage role at Illinois last season.
▪ Warren has spent the last few years in the Heat’s G League developmental program and flashed his skills on Sunday, closing the loss with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting on threes, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 26 minutes.
Warren, who was a four-star high school recruit and played for Overtime Elite instead of playing college basketball, has spent the last two seasons with the Heat’s G League affiliate. Warren is still just 20 years old and has yet to play in an NBA game.
▪ Gardner was among the Heat standouts on Sunday, finishing the loss with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting on threes, four rebounds, one assist, three steals and one block in 26 minutes.
Gardner, 24, spent the last two seasons with the Orlando Magic’s G League affiliate, the Osceola Magic, after going undrafted in 2023 out of Little Rock. Gardner, who has yet to play in an NBA game, averaged 10 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and one steal per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 65 of 184 (35.3 percent) on threes in 50 G League games last season.
▪ Guard Erik Stevenson struggled to make shots on Sunday after scoring 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range for the Heat in Saturday’s summer league opener.
Stevenson, who went undrafted in 2023 and has spent the last two seasons in the G League, finished Sunday’s defeat with four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 shooting on threes.
▪ Lakers three-point shooting forward Cole Swider shined against his former team, closing Sunday’s contest with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting on threes.
Swider, 26, spent the 2023-24 season with the Heat on a two-way contract before parting ways with Miami following last year’s summer league.
▪ Sunday marked the second of three games that the Heat’s summer league team will play in the California Classic before moving on to Las Vegas Summer League. The Heat is 1-1 through its first two games in San Francisco.
The Heat’s summer league team plays its final game of the California Classic on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors’ summer roster at Chase Center (7 p.m., ESPN+).