Heat beats Wizards in first game of new NBA tournament, moves to 2-4. Takeaways, details

Five takeaways from the Heat’s 121-114 win against the Washington Wizards on Friday night at Kaseya Center:

▪ The Heat snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided the ignominy of losing to a bad team, on the night players wore the “Heat Culture” jerseys for the first time.

The Heat survived surreal early shooting from the Wizards, who missed their first shot but then hit 10 in a row (including five threes) to surge ahead 26-20. Miami responded with an 8-0 spurt, then rode a Tyler Herro-led 13-2 run in the second quarter to go ahead by double digits.

Miami began the third quarter with a 16-6 burst and pushed the lead to 20 after three quarters.

But this one turned into something of an adventure because of another Heat fourth-quarter meltdown.

Down 115-90 with 6:31 left and playing reserves, Washington unleashed a 12-0 run, pulling to within 13 and forcing Erik Spoelstra to summon Jimmy Butler back in the game. The Wizards stretched the run to 15-0 before a Butler basket.

Washington didn’t draw closer than 10, but it was still a disappointing way to close.

In Miami’s first two home games, the Heat relinquished all but one point of a 19-point fourth-quarter lead in a win against Detroit, then squandered a double digit cushion in Wednesday’s loss to Brooklyn.

Herro was again very good, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. He fell just short of what would have been his second career triple double.

The Heat got 20 points from Butler, 18 from Bam Adebayo, and 18 from Duncan Robinson.

Miami shot 60 percent overall and 48.1 percent on threes (13 for 27) against the league’s most porous defense; Washington entered allowing an absurd 126.3 points per game.

But Miami committed 21 turnovers, including four by Adebayo.

The Wizards shot 13 for 17 (75.5 percent) in the first quarter, the highest first quarter shooting percentage by a Heat opponent since an NBA Finals game against the Spurs in 2014. Per the Associated Press, it was also Washington’s best first quarter shooting percentage in nearly five years.

The Wizards closed at 57 percent from the field.

“We gave up 33 points in the fourth,” Adebayo said, with the Heat scoring 20 in the fourth. “That’s too much for us to give up. Spo is a maniac when it comes to things like that. He always says it doesn’t matter until it does.”

Besides wearing the “Culture” jerseys for the first time, the Heat also played on a flashy red court, part of the NBA’s strategy to distinguish games in its new In-Season tournament from, well, other games. (The games count in the regular season standings.)

“I don’t mind it at all,” Spoelstra said of the Culture jerseys and the red court. “It’s good for the game. Anything that inspires more competition is good. The court should feel different.”

The win -- which counts toward both the in-season tournament standings and overall standings -- moved Miami to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the tournament. (More on the tournament later.)

The win coincided with the 27th anniversary of the Heat’s trade for Alonzo Mourning. “[Owner] Micky [Arison], Pat [Riley], and Zo were the ones that created this whole thing,” Spoelstra said.

Speaking of Heat culture, Spoelstra said some people are “probably tired of hearing about it. We don’t care. You have to stand for something.”

The Lakers, who visit Miami on Monday, should offer a considerably stiffer test than the Wizards.

▪ Herro continued his excellent start to the season and was very good in a point guard-type role during stretches when Kyle Lowry was on the bench.

Herro not only has been productive, but efficient early in the season.

He shot 9 for 17 from the field on Friday, including 4 for 7 on threes.

“Just trying to make the right play,” Herro said.

With five points and three assists, Herro accounted for 11 of the Heat’s points during that 13-2 second quarter run that put the Heat ahead for good.

He went to the half with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Miami went to the half with a 60-54 lead.

“He just continues to grow,” Spoelstra said. “The playmaking is something that has been happening for over a year. He’s getting used to all the different coverages that the great players receive.”

Herro entered the night 11th in the league in scoring at 26.2, which would easily be a career high if sustained.

“It’s good to see him grow,” Adebayo said. “He’s showing you all that he can do it all. I wish he could have gotten his last assist; it would have capped off the night for us.”

Herro’s only career triple double came last November against Atlanta, when he had 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

“I was aware of it,” Herro said of being close to a triple double on Friday. “My teammates were trying to help me get that last assist. We’ll take the win.”

▪ Haywood Highsmith - making his 13th career start - replaced Kevin Love alongside Butler, Adebayo, Herro and Lowry, giving Miami its fifth starting lineup in six games.

That starting group was outscored by three to open the game and was then outscored by one point when reunited briefly late in the first half.

But the starting quintet was very good (a plus seven) to start the second half and the Heat went ahead by 15 before Spoelstra’s first substitution of the third quarter.

Highsmith offered his usual defensive bent and chipped in eight points on three for four shooting.

“Try to bring some tenacity and be me,” Highsmith said of what he hopes to bring to the starting group.

Highsmith, who missed the first four games of the season with a sprained MCL, banged knees with Deni Avdija late in the first half. Called for a foul on the play, Highsmith came up limping and went to the locker room but shook it off and started the second half.

Last season, Friday’s Heat starting group played 37 minutes together and shot 37.5 percent (27 for 72) and 31.6 percent on threes (6 for 19) and was outscored by three points.

Highsmith gives the Heat’s first group more defensive skill and versatility on the perimeter, but less size than the 6-8 Love, who didn’t play at all after missing two of the previous three games with a shoulder injury.

Here’s how Spoelstra explained the decision to insert Highsmith into the starting lineup:

“Nobody likes being 1-4 and losing four straight. I hate having to make those kinds of decisions, because for everyone outside it looks like an indictment on one particular player. It’s not. I hated having to make that move because Kevin brings so much from a connection and spirit and leadership standpoint.

“This is just a move for now. K-Love is going to have a role for us. It’s just for right now, just to stabilize, a move I felt was best for the time being. And we’ll see what happens. I will continue to evaluate until we get our game to whatever we need to get it too.”

When the game was competitive, Spoelstra played Jaime Jaquez Jr., Josh Richardson, Robinson and Thomas Bryant off the bench.

Beyond Robinson’s best night of the season, Richardson contributed 10 points, Jaquez 9 and Bryant 11.

Caleb Martin remains out with knee tendonosis but said he’s feeling a lot better.

▪ Lowry again was a reluctant shooter but played a good floor game.

Lowry didn’t attempt a shot in eight first quarter minutes, then took two (missing both) late in the first half.

He closed with three points, on one for four shooting.

But he had seven assists and two turnovers, putting him at 28 assists and 11 turnovers for the season.

Lowry entered having attempted just 25 shots (with 11 makes) in five games and scoring at a 6-point-per-game clip. That scoring average dropped on Friday.

But the floor game on Friday compensated for the offensive reticence.

▪ The Heat got a leg up in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament.

Here’s how the tournament works:

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams play four group play games — one game against each opponent in their randomly drawn five-team group within their conference. Two of those games will be played at home and the other two on the road.

Those games will take place every Tuesday and Friday in November, beginning on Friday. The Heat’s five-team tournament group also includes the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.

The Heat’s remaining group play games are: Nov. 14 vs. Hornets in Charlotte, Nov. 24 against Knicks in New York and Nov. 28 vs. Bucks in Miami. Group play results count in the regular season standings.

The winner of each of the six groups and two wild cards (the team from each conference with the best record in group play that finished second in its group) will advance to the knockout quarterfinal round.

If two or more teams are tied within a group, the tie among the teams will be broken according to the following tiebreakers (in sequential order): head-to-head record in group play, point differential in group play, total points scored in group play, regular-season record from last regular season and random drawing.

Asked whether the use of point differential as a tiebreaker would affect how he coaches, Spoelstra said before the game: “I’m not even thinking about that right now.”

If the Heat emerges from its five-team group, the knockout rounds will consist of single-elimination games for the eight teams that advance from group play, beginning with the quarterfinals on Dec. 4-5; those games will be played in NBA markets.

The four teams that win quarterfinal games advance to the neutral-side semifinals on Dec. 7 and then two teams will play in the championship game on Dec. 9. The semifinals and championship game of the event will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Players on the championship team will get $500,000 each, players on the team that loses in the championship will get $200,000 each, players on the team that loses in the semifinals will get $100,000 each and players on the team that loses in the quarterfinals will get $50,000 each.