Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 111-99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers:

— You can survive absences of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, even Haywood Highsmith when you are at your sharpest.

— The Heat weren’t at their sharpest Friday night.

— Not with 16 turnovers through the first three periods.

— Yes, there will be nights when Jimmy Butler is off.

— When Duncan Robinson can’t make a shot.

— When the defense lapses.

— But when you keep it clean, you have a chance in those circumstances.

— The Heat didn’t keep it clean.

— They worked blew.

— And paid with their third loss in their last four home games.

— With Adebayo and Highsmith again out (and Herro still out), the Heat again opened with Orlando Robinson, Caleb Martin,Butler, Duncan Robinson and Kyle Lowry.

— The Heat had entered with 14 lineups in their first 21 games.

— No change this time.

— Maybe next time.

— Back available for the Heat was guard RJ Hampton, after being sidelined with knee pain, but he was inactive.

— Coach Erik Spoelstra said the plan eventually is G League game minutes.

— “He’s going to stay here for a little bit more, and then we’d like to get him going to Sioux Falls and play in some games and then we’ll take it from there,” Spoelstra said. “But his progress has been really good. He was able to do a practice last week with us and a lot of work here while we were gone.”

— Also inactive were Herro, Adebayo, Highsmith and Dru Smith (knee).

— Kevin Love was first off the Heat bench, after Orlando Robinson was called for a pair of early fouls.

— Josh Richardson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. then followed off the Heat bench.

— With the Heat with the following two days off, Spoelstra kept the rotation to a tight eight.

— That meant no Jamal Cain, Thomas Bryant or Nikola Jovic.

— Friday meant a return by former Heat guard Max Strus, who left in free agency for the Cavaliers.

— Strus was introduced last among Cleveland’s starters, to a warm ovation.

— Spoelstra was asked about the unusual paths Duncan Robinson and Strus took to the Heat as one-time teammates.

—  “You have to be inspired by each of their stories,” Spoelstra said. “That’s so uncommon. Both of them to take the paths that they did. So many young kids get discouraged. But if you have a goal and a vision and you are relentless with your fortitude, it shows you that crazy things can happen, even if you start out going to a prep school like Duncan did, and then go D3. Or like Max, D3. And then they both found their way to division-one programs and had to come through this league without being drafted.”

— But Spoelstra said it wasn’t a case of both being the same.

— “They’re different players,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s easy to say they’re the same player. They’re not. They each bring different things and it was fun to see that dynamic.”

— Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff had praise pregame for the Heat approach.

— “I’m one of the biggest fans,” he said. “I just think that it allows you to have sustained success. It allows you to hold people to a standard, whether it’s summer league, whether it’s practice, whether it’s a game. There’s accountability and there’s a vision that you can constantly attack.”

— He added, “Last year, their ability to make it to the Finals speaks on it and stands on it. And they don’t waver from it — up, down, championship years, whatever it may be, they’re the same. And as a fan of sport and son of a coach and coaching now myself, that’s all you want, is you want to be able to go to war, knowing that you can coach or you can play with absolute freedom. Because it doesn’t matter what anybody else says, or the outside world says about you, as long as you are doing things that are right of your environmental culture, you can just go be the best version of yourself.”