The priority at summer league was clear from the moment the Miami Heat went out for the opening tip at Saturday’s opener at the California Classic.

With Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson in the starting lineup, it was a matter of attempting to pick up where the Heat left off with their developmental pipeline.

In that regard, the 82-69 victory over the summer roster of the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center was a success.

“As expected, I thought the defense would be ahead of the offense, which it definitely was,” said assistant coach Erik Glass, who is guiding the Heat’s summer roster.

Ware, the 2024 first-round pick out of Indiana, filled the box score with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 27 minutes (summer-league games are four 10-minute quarters). Larsson, the 2024 second-round pick out of Arizona, scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half. And Johnson, the forward who went undrafted a year ago out of Arizona and then earned a Heat standard contract, finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

With those three having teamed to help the Heat win last year’s championship at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, the grooming continued Saturday at the home of the Golden State Warriors.

“I thought as the game went on,” Glass said, “our pressure wore them down a little bit. We were able to get out in the open floor, get some easier baskets. So I was happy with our performance there.”

About the only glitch in the Heat youth movement was the uneven debut of first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, who missed his first six shots, with his lone basket not coming until he converted a 3-footer with 6:50 to play. He closed with three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

“Today was my first game and it was different,”: Jakucionis said. “The game style and everything is different. But I’m happy with the team’s performance. I think we played pretty good. We had good effort, we shared the ball well and we played as a team.

“It’s a process. I’m excited to be in that process, to be in this moment. I’m trying to take everything I can, trying to learn as much as possible from other guys, trying to listen to everybody who gives me advice and just get that experience to make me more ready.”

Among the newcomers, Erik Stevenson, the guard who spent last season with the Washington Wizards’ G League affiliate, closed with 16 points, shooting 4 of 4 on 3-pointers.

Five Degree of Heat from Saturday’s game:

— 1. For starters: The Heat opened with a lineup of Ware, Johnson, Larsson, Jakucionis and Kira Lewis Jr.

Lewis, the former Pelicans, Raptors and Jazz guard is the lone player on the Heat summer roster with more than one season of NBA experience. He spent last season on the G League roster of the Wizards’ affiliate.

Brought in to guide the summer roster’s youth, Lewis closed with four points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.

“I thought that was an important piece for that starting lineup,” Glass said. “I didn’t want to put all the pressure on Kas in his first game to be the primary point guard. So I thought it was really seamless to throw Kira in there.”

For their part, the Spurs were without No. 2 overall draft pick Dylan Harper, with the guard out of Rutgers sidelined with a groin issue.

Harper is not expected to make his Spurs debut until the Las Vegas NBA summer league

— 2. The first thing: It was a mixed bag of a debut for Jakucionis, the No. 20 pick out of Illinois in last week’s draft.

Jakucionis missed all four of his 3-point attempts, closing with one rebound and one assist in his 22 minutes.

He did show some deft passing, but it went unrewarded, with the Heat off with their shooting, in a game they went 26 of 71 from the field, including 6 of 29 on 3-pointers.

“I think Kas was very steady,” Glass said. “That’s the one thing I’ve noticed about him. Even through the training camp we had, there were never really any high moments, any low moments, he was just super steady, super solid. And I thought that’s what he brought us today.

“Obviously his shots didn’t fall today, but nobody’s did. So we’re not holding that against him. I thought he competed. I thought he ran the offense when we had him in those positions. I thought he made pretty good pick-and-roll decisions. So we were pretty happy for him, it being his first game.”

— 3. Larsson time: Larsson picked up in summer league where he left off last July, when he converted the winning basket in the Heat’s championship at the Las Vegas Summer League.

Larsson played in attack mode, closing 10 of 11 from the line to help offset his 4 of 12 from the field that included 0 for 3 on 3-pointers.

“He’s just the ultimate competitor,” Glass said. “We got to keep him on his feet. He hit the floor probably more times than we made field goals tonight. But we love him. He and Keshad are the emotional and spiritual leaders of this team, and they just inspire and drive everybody to want to do more.”

— 4. The big thing: Ware and Johnson both played with aggression.

Ware had six points and five rebounds in the first half, with Johnson with five points and six rebounds in the first half.

Ware closed 5 of 14 from the field, Johnson 3 of 7.

Of Ware, Glass said, “He had his moments that he can do better, but he was active. He was running up and down the floor. He was using his voice. Those are the things that are going to help him next season with us”

Playing off the Heat bench, undrafted Vlad Goldin, the former FAU center, got off to a slow start but came around to close with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting and three rebounds.

“I like him,” Glass said of Goldin. “He’s super physical. He runs the floor. He has a really loud voice out there, so the guys feel also really confident. He made some nice plays at the rim. He got us extra possessions. So we’re learning him just like he’s learning us.”

— 5. Up next: The Heat are back it Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern for their second game of the California Classic against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers’ summer roster features Bronny James, Dalton Knecht and former Heat 3-point specialist Cole Swider.

The Heat will conclude play at the California Classic on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern against the Golden State Warriors’ summer roster, before moving on to Friday’s opener at the larger Las Vegas NBA Summer League.

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