{"id":348563,"date":"2025-10-18T00:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T00:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/348563\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T00:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T00:50:21","slug":"erik-spoelstra-gets-real-on-norman-powells-comfort-level-ahead-of-heat-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/348563\/","title":{"rendered":"Erik Spoelstra gets real on Norman Powell\u2019s comfort level ahead of Heat season opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Erik Spoelstra gets real on Norman Powell\u2019s comfort level ahead of Heat season opener<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MIAMI \u2013 With fans locking in their bold predictions for the Heat\u2019s upcoming season<\/a>, one piece of the team that will be crucial to the success is newcomer and star Norman Powell<\/a>. As Powell\u2019s comfort level with the Heat<\/a> is growing by the day, head coach Erik Spoelstra<\/a> gives more insight into the process.<\/p>\n

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Powell is set to be Miami\u2019s top offensive option to start the season due with Tyler Herro<\/a> beginning on the bench due to an ankle\/foot injury that could have him return towards the end of November, going into December. Spoelstra would be asked if the goal with\u00a0 Powell is for him to be 100 percent comfortable ahead of the Oct. 22 opener or if it will be a continuous process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know<\/a>. Everybody\u2019s been working hard. I don\u2019t know how to gauge where guys are. I think he\u2019s playing pretty well right now,\u201d Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before the final preseason game on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. \u201cHe\u2019s comfortable, and what we\u2019re trying to do, he\u2019s adding, for sure, to what we\u2019re doing, and he\u2019s been great in the practices, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far in the preseason, Powell has shown why he is an offensive gut punch, scoring around 18 points per game in the last three outings in limited minutes. He would tell ClutchPoints on Thursday that he is around 70 percent comfortable in getting acclimated to how the team plays.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI would say it\u2019s probably like in the 70s, just still trying to figure out flow, the attack points, how we\u2019re trying to play. Biggest thing, how we\u2019re trying to play is we\u2019ve been emphasizing pace,\u201d Powell said after Thursday\u2019s practice. \u201cSo just still trying to find my spots on that end\u2026So I\u2019d say it\u2019s at a 70.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat\u2019s Norman Powell on how his comfort level will keep \u201cbuilding\u201d\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

While Powell looks to step up for the Heat in Herro\u2019s absence<\/a>, it\u2019s something that he has donebeforet as just recently with the Los Angeles Clippers last season when Kawhi Leonard missed a chunk of time to start. What it led to was a season where Powell shone, averaging 21.8 points per game on shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from deep, even being voted as a top-10 Western Conference guard.<\/p>\n

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Powell would further say to ClutchPoints on Thursday that his comfort level will continue building and hopes it\u2019s at its peak when it\u2019s late in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be building for me, it\u2019s never about coming in 100% ready to go, it\u2019s about looking at what the team needs, looking at what the season is asking. We don\u2019t want to play our best basketball to start, we want to play winning basketball, obviously, but we want to be building and trending in the right direction,\u201d Powell said, preparing for his first season with Miami after being traded in the offseason from the Clippers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long season,\u201d Powell continued. \u201cWe want to be trending when it gets tight, gets close, in a time where it matters to win and making this playoff push.\u201d<\/p>\n

At any rate, Powell looks to elevate Miami this season without Herro as the team last season finished with a 37-45 record, which put them 1oth in the Eastern Conference. The Heat open the regular season on the road on Wednesday, Oct. 22, against the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

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Related: Heat\u2019s Erik Spoelstra says Terry Rozier\u2019s \u2018mind is clear\u2019 in preparing for bounce-back season<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Exclusive: Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Blake Griffin, Udonis Haslem react to NBA on Prime studio launch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Erik Spoelstra gets real on Norman Powell\u2019s comfort level ahead of Heat season opener appeared first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[7,50530,1200,144,529,135,177,295,189,3881,6,558,76,1176,492,5987],"class_list":{"0":"post-348563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-comfort-level","10":"tag-erik-spoelstra","11":"tag-heat","12":"tag-kawhi-leonard","13":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","14":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","15":"tag-miami","16":"tag-miami-heat","17":"tag-miamiheat","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-norman-powell","20":"tag-orlando-magic","21":"tag-the-heat","22":"tag-tyler-herro","23":"tag-upcoming-season"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115392428768669019","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}