MIAMI – As the Miami Heat lost to the Boston Celtics on Monday night, 103-85, it was also the debut of newcomers Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, and Kyle Anderson. All were involved in the trade that sent former Heat star Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors as head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the performances of the recent additions.

The three players would get some extended looks due to the absences of Heat star Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr., even Wiggins and Mitchell would be in the starting lineup. Despite the team scoring their lowest point total of the season, Spoelstra expresses the “potential” of the acquisitions.

“I see the potential in all three of them, I think they can be big-time value adds to what we're trying to do,” Spoelstra said. “We want to get them as comfortable as possible. I think Wiggs, once he gets really comfortable, you can see that the areas that he can help on both ends of the court, but he's a weapon, you know, offensively, defensively, he can really move. He has that kind of length and unique ability to move laterally. And then the other two guys, you know, they'll fit right in defensively with what we're doing.”

Heat's Bam Adebayo on getting Andrew Wiggins and others in tune

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) dribbles the basketball against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter at Kaseya Center.
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

One player who isn't worried about easing the newcomers in with the team is the Heat's captain Bam Adebayo, who said after the game that Spoelstra is one of the “greatest coaches in history.”

“How quickly? I mean, we have one of the greatest coaches in the league, in history, actually,” Adebayo said. “So I'm not gonna worry about how quick it's gonna be for them. It’s the first game for them, obviously, they are trying to figure out what shots to take, you know, buy into the system. And once they do that, we'll make a couple runs.”

While Adebayo led the team with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Wiggins would finish the game with 11 points on an inefficient three-of-12 of 12 shooting from the field. Even though he is still gaining chemistry with the others on the team, he expressed his excitement to be with Miami after the game.

“It’s the NBA; when you get traded mid-season, you got to figure it out,” Wiggins said on adapting to his new team. “You know, something we’re trying to do. Great teammates here, great coaching staff, and everyone's been wonderful to me. I'm excited, we didn't win today, but we got a lot coming down the stretch.”

Heat's Davion Mitchell on expectations for the defense

Related Miami Heat NewsArticle continues below
Miami Heat star Tyler Herro and Cade Cunningham in front of Kaseya Center.
Heat’s Tyler Herro fires ‘tough’ reaction in stinging loss to Cade Cunningham, Pistons
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo in the middle with Tyler Herro and Erik Spoelstra on either side in front of Kaseya Center.
How the Heat is ‘staying the course’ after ninth straight loss
Steven Spielberg’s daughter reveals feelings about first courtside experience after sitting next to Tracy Morgan
Steven Spielberg’s daughter reveals feelings about first courtside experience after sitting next to Tracy Morgan

Wiggins' teammate in Golden State Anderson would come off the bench but had a frustrating debut as he missed all of his five attempts from the field. Mitchell, on the other hand, had some standout moments despite finishing with four points and four rebounds.

He not only showed off his defensive intensity but also his playmaking ability, as his passing was impressive in the aforementioned absence of Herro. He had a strong proclamation about his expectations for the defense while also acknowledging what needed to be fixed.

“It's gonna be really hard to score on us,” Mitchell said. “I think that we got a lot of players that can move their feet, like I said before, we got Kel’el on the backside, he can block shots, who can also get rebounds, who's a really smart defender. He's still young, but he's still learning. He's day and day, especially when you got Bam teaching him, and you got Bam that can switch on to anyone one through five. It makes your defense a lot harder to score on, honestly.”

“But we got to carry on to 48 minutes,” Mitchell continued. “Like coach said before,e we got to keep building on it, we did good in the first quarter, and then we kind of let them hit shots, and then they got confidence, and then we got discouraged. So I think that they will do a better job next time.”

Heat's Davion Mitchell on the road ahead

Though the debut contest for the new players was a disappointing one, they can't dwell on it too much as they now go on the road for two games, then the All-Star break, and finish with a three-game road trip. Mitchell spoke to ClutchPoints about the whirlwind of his season, having to move teams and overcoming the obstacles ahead of Miami.

“We just can't get down, we can't feel sorry for ourselves because no one's going to feel sorry for us,” Mitchell said. “We got another good team who we’re about to play against, the number one defense in the league. You got really good players over there. So we just got to figure it out. I think the main thing is we go out there and play hard, take the same shots we took tonight. I mean, I feel like we took a lot of open shots, we were just missing. So some of those will fall, and we will be fine.”

The Heat are now 25-26, which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference as they next face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.