Yurtseven and Strus lead the way for Heat over Warriors 94-87 in Summer League

The Miami Heat beat the Golden State Warriors 94-87 in Summer League action.

The Miami Heat have to be pretty pleased with how their 2021 NBA Summer League has begun. In Game 1, Omer Yurtseven led the Heat with 27 points and 19 rebounds in a two-point win over the Lakers.

And in Game 2, the Heat got great efforts from Omer Yurtseven again as well as Max Strus who played for the first time since signing a two-year deal with the Miami Heat. The Heat were able to use a late-game run to overcome #7 overall pick Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors.

94-87 was the final score.

The Heat’s game plan was obvious from the start — work the ball through the 7-foot Turkish Omer Yurtseven. The Warriors didn’t have very much size to bother Yurtsven and he had his way and began causing double teams. Omer is clearly making a strong case for the Heat to add him on some type of contract.

The problem is that he isn’t under any contract with the Heat, able to sign with anyone at any time. Back in 2015, the Brooklyn Nets signed Willie Reed right off the Heat’s summer league team in the middle of it. So that’s not ideal.

Yurtseven only hit two threes, but he dominated the first quarter and finished the game with 25 points and 8 rebounds and this time only had 3 turnovers. There’s a lot to say about Omer.

But Max Strus also played pretty well in a role that is different for him. Strus is used to being an afterthought to any defense in the NBA. But he was able to put together an impressive 27 point game and lead the way down the stretch. Strus showed his ability to shoot, but more than that, he is very capable of putting the ball on the floor and head towards the rim. He hit 5 three-pointers but also made 6-6 FTs.

Strus was also a game-best +17.

It was also another strong game from Marcus Garrett who had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals. He seems like a defensive player the Heat will like, but does he have enough offensive ability to make it in the NBA?

Miami didn’t play Gabe Vincent or KZ Okpala.

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The Heat will travel to the Las Vegas Summer League and play on Sunday night, 7 PM local against the Denver Nuggets on NBATV.