Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Despite some careless ball protection, the Spurs stayed in the match and showed promise The San Antonio Spurs visited the Kaseya Center in Miami for their fourth preseason bout and lost, 117-120. The game had seven lead changes and 10 ties. The sloppy turnovers were enough to cancel out their shooting accuracy inside the arc in the first half. Yet, the Spurs were much more careful following intermission and entered the fourth quarter with a two-point advantage. Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes’ veteran presence and on-court impact continued to brush up the actions. The Spurs outscored the Heat in the lane by 16, produced three extra marks on the break and out-rebounded the hosts by 16. Jeremy Sochan’s 18 marks on nine of 13 ventures, Keldon Johnson’s 15-point output on 60 percent of tries, and Paul’s 13 points, shooting 71.4 percent, led the way in scoring. Devin Vassell was absent from the Silver and Black with a right foot injury. Observations The Heat swarmed the team’s poor passing, recovering four steals in the first three minutes and ended the first frame forcing nine turnovers on the Spurs. The visitors totaled 21 at the final buzzer. Victor Wembanyama was ineffective as a scorer when Bam Adebayo checked him closely. Yet, he scored on a transition pull-up triple and multiple face-up moves up close. His on-ball drives into the paint also exposed the perimeter and avenues for failed friendly looks. Wembanyama didn’t play the second half; Collins started for him. Early, Paul and Wemby were the main organizers and ran some two-man actions on the perimeter. Nonetheless, the unit was more accurate than the hosts, shooting 6.5 percentage points higher in the first quarter but were down 21-27. Subsequently, the Spurs’ offense continued to shoot well, registering 13 of 20 field goals, but committed another six giveaways. By halftime, Silver and Black were down 49-59. In the second half, the team made 22 of 40 attempts to almost snatch the win. On defense, Wembanyama lost his senses, biting on a Bam Adebayo pump fake in the corner during the first minute of the game, and Tyler Herro got him as well a few later, too. But Wemby also had nice moments- stopping Nikola Jovic in transition with a strip and setting up a lob on the same play to Jeremy Sochan; pressuring a pick and roll that helped force a turnover on Duncan Robinson; and denying Robinson’s drive on a helpside block. Aside from the biting on three fakes, which Wembanyama needs to correct, his on-ball pressure looks sharper than his rookie year. Sochan defended Jović promptly on multiple unsuccessful jumpers. He (28), Harrison Barnes (27) and Paul (25) also led the team in minutes logged. Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins were the first reserves. Johnson produced five of seven baskets in the first half and then one of three in the second. Collins foolishly fouled Terry Rozier on a deep two-pointer and had an uneventful first half. Collins was more active scoring in the second half. Stephon Castle shot one of five from the field and lost the ball twice, but was active on defense in his 21 minutes. The Spurs allowed 14 of 45 3-pointers, but gave up 63 percent of two-pointers. The Spurs’ final preseason game is on Thursday in Houston versus the Rockets.