The Heatles have already made themselves some untaxed money, because if they advance no further than the Dec. 9 knockout game against the Orlando Magic, each player walks away with $53,093, and the two-way players get half of that. Of course, they have a bigger goal of winning the whole thing, which would result in ten times the money, but going all the way is a pre-playoff prep, which gets the players used to higher stakes from early on.

The Emirates Cup games haven’t had playoff intensity, but it’s the closest thing to it at about the quarter mark of the season. One trend that should help is that 40 percent of the Heat’s games have been decided by five points or fewer, and their record in those is 6-2. Keep in mind that being in so many clutch games in the 2022-23 season was one habit that coach Erik Spoelstra credited with making them mentally stronger as they went on a Finals trip, eventually losing to the Denver Nuggets in five.

Through four Emirates Cup games, Miami is 3-1 and recording the eighth-ranked defense of the tournament. Norman Powell has played in all of those and has been their MVP, logging 23.3 points per game on a 56.7 effective field goal percentage. 

Notably, one of their best lineups, which played in all four outings, includes Jaime Jaquez Jr. alongside Powell, Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware. But Jaquez missed Saturday’s loss at home to the Detroit Pistons with a groin injury, and there is currently no designation on how severe his condition is. That rotation’s top-tier accuracy (65.0 EFG percentage) influenced the defense, making it better because opponents had to see a set coverage often. 

Tyler Herro was only present for one of the four games. The team is still seeing some mixed results as he gets back in the mix, but that’s expected since he is a major offensive piece. The Heat have gone super small in two of their last three, but it’s risky to give up so much size in consequential games, especially against a big team like the Magic. Yet so far, they’ve been a problem for rivals when they go big, putting Ware next to Bam Adebayo. 

They can still go big with Herro in the lineup, but it’ll come at the expense of the defense somewhere. Aside from defense not being his specialty, Herro may not have enough reps to handle it if he gets hunted repeatedly, like the Magic could and maybe will try to do. 

To win the Cup, Miami would have to get through Orlando, and then the winner of the New York Knicks- Toronto Raptors matchup, to advance to the tournament Final. The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing the Phoenix Suns, and the Los Angeles Lakers are seeing the San Antonio Spurs in the Western quarterfinals.

The Heat are capable of seeing it through if they want it badly enough, and hopefully they do so the players who barely log minutes get some extra dollars.

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