The nightmare season continues for the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. They failed to snap their losing streak, dropping yet another game in disappointing fashion to the LA Clippers, 119-104. And they can’t get answers from anybody on the roster.
The Heat are now seven games below the .500 mark at a 29-36 record and have plummeted all the way down to the Eastern Conference’s ninth seed. Even if they continue this recent tailspin, they are likely to somehow manage to still sneak into the play-in picture as the 10th seed at worst.
Tyler Herro, the Heat’s 2025 All-Star, did his job and bounced back with a game-high 31 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals.
Miami also received strong supplemental outings from Andrew Wiggins and Duncan Robinson, who combined for 37 points.
However, James Harden’s playmaking and elite double-double performances from Ivica Zubac and Bogdan Bogdanovic propelled the Clippers throughout the night. They finished the game shooting a sizzling near 60% from the field and 48% from 3-point range as a team.
The Miami Heat’s underwhelming play stemmed from the frontcourt duo of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.
As the Heat have gotten All-Star efforts out of Bam Adebayo lately, his six-point dud against the Clippers is fair to get a temporary pass. He took just seven shots on the night, but also added seven rebounds and seven assists.
But the concern was the production from Miami’s frontcourt as a whole, including the big man duo alongside Adebayo with Kel’el Ware.
The rookie center has cooled off since his midseason surge into coach Erik Spoelstra’s starting lineup. And Wednesday’s fifth straight loss was just one of his more rough outings in the season.
Ware totaled just four points, seven rebounds and two assists in his limited 18 minutes on the court against Los Angeles. He was essentially nonexistent offensively, and the Heat will need a lot more from him if he plans on manning the middle in the first unit.
He is averaging just 7.5 points over his last seven games played. It’s worth noting that he missed three straight due to injury recently, but it’s appeared that he has hit his rookie wall.
The Adebayo-Ware combination was outscored by 24 points combined in their minutes for the Heat in the loss. That isn’t going to cut it for a duo that has such a high ceiling and impactful potential together.