The signs that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was only going to push so far in Friday night’s exhibition finale came before the game, midway through the opening period and then at the start of the second half.

With Bam Adebayo back in South Florida with a groin injury, Spoelstra decided that even with Giannis Antetokounmpo with the team in Orlando, there was no need to put his leading man through this.

Then, with 4:34 to play in the opening period and his starters dominating against an opponent the Heat couldn’t beat in five tries last season, Spoelstra subbed out that entire unit.

By the third quarter, all of the Heat’s starters were done for the night, even as the Magic played on with their primary rotation.

That it didn’t go well in the 136-115 loss to the Magic at Kia Center clearly did not matter nearly as much to Spoelstra as what actually will matter on Wednesday night, when the Heat open the franchise’s 39th season against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center.

“Orlando competed and played very well, particularly those last three quarters,” Spoelstra said. “But these last 20 days have been very productive for our basketball team. I’m encouraged in the direction we’re going.

“I think everybody’s ready to get started on Wednesday. We have a quality opponent coming in, and it’ll be Wednesday Night Lights. I think everybody’s excited about it.”

Among those expected to be in the Heat’s primary rotation come opening night, the Heat got 13 points from Andrew Wiggins, 12 apiece from Bobby Portis and Nikola Jovic, and seven points and five assists from Davion Mitchell. All were limited to 15 minutes of action.

Wiggins said the preseason heightened hope.

“I feel like with every game, it’s just been getting better,” he said. “Chemistry’s been building.”

The Heat also got 21 points from Ryan Conwell and nine points and 11 rebounds in 18 minutes from Nick Richards.

Conwell said his first NBA preseason was all he could have hoped for.

“I got some great vets for me, so they make it easy for me,” said the second-round pick out of Louisville in June’s draft. “I just got to come in every day and work hard and learn. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

From the Magic, there were 24 points from Paolo Banchero and 23 from Desmond Bane.

“We’ll get our defense right and ready for Wednesday night,” Spoelstra said.

Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s exhibition:

1. For starters: Although he traveled, Antetokounmpo was announced as sitting out 90 minutes before tipoff. That was with Adebayo and Dru Smith (calf) not traveling, and with Pelle Larsson (illness) still out.

That had Portis and Jovic starting in place of Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, in a starting lineup rounded out by Wiggins, Mitchell and Klay Thompson.

Also held out was Ezra Ausar, signed Thursday as a means of funneling him to the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Antetokounmpo wound up appearing in three of the Heat’s five exhibitions, Adebayo in two.

Wiggins, Thompson and Mitchell started in each of their four preseason appearances.

Spoelstra then went for a full, five-man substitution midway through the opening period, inserting Richards, Conwell. Simone Fontecchio, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Myron Gardner.

By the start of the second half, Tre Donaldson and Keshad Johnson also were in the Heat mix, with Hardaway also done for the night.

As for his regular-season rotation, Spoelstra said that will work itself out organically.

“I have an idea of the direction we’re going,” he said, “but I mentioned this the other day, I’m not stressed out about the rotation for Wednesday night. We’ll have that rotation, but I’m also thinking about the big picture, and we’re going to need everybody in this locker room.

“Our depth is a big strength of ours, and we will be maximizing our depth throughout the course of the season.”

2. Klay’s way: Thompson preseason shooting struggles continued, this time closing 0 for 7 from the field, including 0 for 6 on 3-pointers.

That shooting, before he and the rest of the starters were held out for the second half, left Thompson at 7 of 26 from the field for the preseason, including 3 of 20 on 3-pointers.

Thompson also did not attempt a free throw in his four exhibition appearances.

3. Great unknowns: The Heat and the Magic are two of the teams that some have stuck in the middle in the highly upgraded Eastern Conference.

Spoelstra addressed the ever-changing face of the East in his pregame media session, including a reference to when Heat President Pat Riley coached the Lakers.

“This is the way the league has been trending the last handful of years,” he said. “It’s not like the ’90s or ’80s where if you put together a team you would have, like Pat had, a decade run with the Lakers. These are two or three-year windows, if that.

“And then it has become more competitive without the tanking element. I think more teams are going for it or going for something to try to make the playoffs, and I think that’s all good. If you’re a competitor in this league, that’s really the way you want it.”

4. A Giannis view: Although Antetokounmpo did not play, the game did create a reunion, with new Magic coach Sean Sweeney having served as a Bucks assistant during Antetokounmpo’s formative years in Milwaukee.

Asked what has stood out to him in Antetokounmpo’s shift to the Heat, Sweeney said, “He’s done a really good job in the preseason of attacking, especially early in the clock, being really aggressive to drive the basketball. I don’t think that’s changed much.

“But just when you add a player of Antetokounmpo’s caliber to that group, it’s an element that’s a little bit different. Obviously, his aggressiveness and his pressure he puts on the defense is constant every night.”

5. Up next: The Heat on Saturday will have to cut down to no more than 15 players under standard contract and three under two-way contract. The Heat currently are carrying the NBA offseason maximum of 21 players.

From there, it will be on to Wednesday night’s 7:30 p.m. season opener, the start of a stretch of three games in four nights to open their regular season.

“We like where we are,” Spoelstra said after his team closed out a 3-2 preseason. “The guys are very professional. They’re very mature in the approach. We know what’s expected of us, and we’re looking forward to getting started on Wednesday.”