Observations from Heat’s summer league loss to 76ers, as Highsmith continues solid run

The Miami Heat fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 75-71 on Wednesday night on UNLV’s campus in its third of five games at Las Vegas Summer League. Here are some observations from the Heat’s loss in Las Vegas:

▪ The Heat opened with a starting lineup of Jamaree Bouyea, Javonte Smart, Marcus Garrett, Haywood Highsmith and Orlando Robinson.

▪ Highsmith, who is currently on a partially guaranteed contract with the Heat for next season, was the team’s best player on Wednesday with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks. He stood out on both ends, as he blocked a dunk attempt by Philadelphia’s Malik Ellison with 14.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter that was originally called a foul but was overturned after it was reviewed.

“I’m just trying to get better each day, taking the right steps for me as far as my development,” Highsmith said. “I feel like summer league is an opportunity for me to just grow, become more of a leader and teach some of these young guys as the vet on the team some things. But I’m just trying to get better every day and just keep pushing.”

Highsmith has been solid throughout summer league, as he entered Wednesday averaging 11.3 points on 19-of-38 (50 percent) shooting from the field and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) shooting on threes, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in four games.

“He does provide some stability for us out on the floor,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Malik Allen said of Highsmith. “He’s got some experience and he’s got good IQ and he can figure out how to play with other guys pretty quick. Even between here or if it’s with our main guys, he really can function pretty easily in both environments, which is a really big skill in today’s NBA.”

▪ The two players from the summer roster who the Heat signed to Exhibit 10 contracts produced mixed results.

Robinson, who went undrafted this year out of Fresno State, made his presence felt with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Most of those numbers came in the second half, when he totaled 12 points, four rebounds and four blocks.

“He was a little bit more aggressive,” Allen said of Robinson’s second half. “We just need him engaged in the details. But he was more aggressive, he was into the game, he was into the competition. Played hard.”

Bouyea, who went undrafted this year out of San Francisco, struggled to make shots with three points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field, six rebounds and three assists.

▪ Smart, who holds one of the Heat’s two-way contracts, scored a team-high 20 points but was inefficient. He shot 8 of 26 from the field and 2 of 10 on threes.

▪ Garrett finished with two points, which both came at the foul line. He missed all nine of his field goal attempts.

After totaling 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from three-point range in his summer debut on Saturday, Garrett has scored just nine points on 1-of-13 shooting from the field in the last two games.

Garrett was cleared to return to game action just a few weeks ago after undergoing surgery on his right wrist earlier this year. He’s playing with tape around the surgically repaired wrist.

▪ The Heat’s summer league team was without three players on Wednesday: Center Omer Yurtseven (quad injury), Nikola Jovic (quad contusion) and Mychal Mulder (rest).

Yurtseven has yet to play in summer league this year after joining the Heat in Las Vegas last week. He had been with the Turkish National team overseas for World Cup qualifying games.

Jovic, who was drafted by the Heat in the first round last month, has missed two straight games after taking a knee to the quad in Saturday’s win over the Boston Celtics in Las Vegas. The team’s hope is Jovic will be able to return to play in another game before summer league wraps up this weekend.

▪ Heat center Bam Adebayo made his first appearance at summer league, sitting across from Miami’s bench for Wednesday’s matchup against the 76ers. Adebayo sat courtside next to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, assistant general manager Adam Simon, assistant coaches Eric Glass, Chris Quinn and Octavio De La Grana, and teammate Caleb Martin.

▪ Next up for the Heat is a matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Friday (10 p.m., NBA TV) at Cox Pavilion for its fourth of five games in Las Vegas Vegas Summer League. The Heat’s fifth and final game in Las Vegas will be played on either Saturday or Sunday, with the opponent and game time determined in the coming days.

The Heat is 1-2 in Las Vegas and now holds a 2-4 overall summer league record, including its three games at the California Classic in San Francisco.