How does a team competing for a play-in/playoff slot lose four straight games right before the All-Star break? A stomach virus that affects the whole team is a good reason, but that is not what has Miami in this drought. Losing to the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder is explainable—that may be the Finals matchup in June. Dropping a game against the tanking Brooklyn Nets and undermanned Dallas Mavericks sums up this Miami Heat season: average. Are they in the middle of the pack due to talent, or is there another reason?
- What's the biggest problem with this revamped Heat team?
- It's time for a conversation about Spo, but not that conversation
- New location, same Mitchell
- Another new Heat player needs to revert to his old self
- The Heat rookie has length on length
What's the biggest problem with this revamped Heat team?
The talent vs. coaching debate rages on in Miami Heat land. Half the fan base will tell you that Bam Adebayo should've played the whole fourth quarter (valid) against OKC, while others will say that the Heat don't have a guy. Both sides have merit.
The Thunder are the best team in the league and have the potential MVP. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can go get it and shift a full defense. His Kentucky University brother Tyler Herro is a rightfully deserving All-Star, but there are levels to stardom.
While OKC was on their flurry (Bam was on the bench), this sequence illustrates superstar vs. All-Star. The Heat are in their pattened zone, and Haywood Highsmith is fully committed to blitzing SGA. It's not a soft show but a full-on leave-his-area blitz to get the ball out of SGA's hands. Nikola Jovic doesn't recover in time, and boom, that's a Lu Dort knockdown. That's the attention SGA commands, and he'll usually make the right play.
Herro's struggles are exacerbated on the next possession. The Thunder are on a run, and the Heat need to get something from their star. Kel'el Ware comes up the floor and sets a lackadaisical screen for Herro. Herro then barrels into two OKC defenders, can't lob it up to Ware, and turns it over. He drew two to the ball, similar to SGA, but Herro couldn't take advantage of what his drive created. He gets stonewalled by Jaylen Williams and turns the ball over. That small sequence at the beginning of the fourth shifted the momentum to the home team, and the Heat couldn't recover.
SGA came down and hit another gut-wrenching 3-- at this point, it didn't matter that Bam was checking back in shortly. The Heat's momentum was zapped. Maybe things would've gone differently if the Heat's 3x All-Star began the final period on the floor, but the fact remains that Miami doesn't have a guy that can get wherever he wants as OKC has in SGA-- his top-tier handle allows him to avoid dire situations. He's the MVP favorite for a reason, going on scoring barrages that are nearly impossible to overcome.
That's no slight to Herro or Bam, for that matter. Herro is an All-Star because of his range and improvements across the board. Bam is picking it up lately, but neither of those guys are A+ creators like SGA, and you need that type of force to win in this league. I lean more on the talent side in the Heat Civil War debate, but Spoelstra isn't blameless.
It's time for a conversation about Spo, but not that conversation
Though I agree that this Heat roster isn't talented enough to truly compete, scoring 86 points against the tanking Nets is unfathomable.
Bam alluded to the coaches needing to be on the same page as the players after the Thunder collapse.
“It’s a lesson, but how many times do we got to keep learning the lesson. It’s not just the players, it’s the coaches as well. We got to understand we all have to be on the same page”
— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) February 13, 2025
Bam Adebayo on Miami’s 4Q struggles pic.twitter.com/A16HEeZwo5
Some of Spo's decisions have been chin-scratching this season. Terry Rozier's leash should be shorter, Ware didn't start playing real minutes until 2025 (he probably wasn't ready), and the rotations have been meh.
To be fair, every fanbase complains about their teams' rotations, but the Rozier minutes still make no sense. If you want to win, he's not helping. If you want the young guys to get reps, he's not helping. We know the Heat aren't tanking, so the theory that Rozier is helping them lose for draft position is out the window.
Rozier was there for the stinker in Brooklyn (played really well until the fourth quarter) but was out with a stomach bug in Oklahoma City. We don't have that excuse for why they blew that lead against the top dogs in the NBA. The Thunder didn't have an answer for Bam, but he started the fourth on the bench. He probably should've played the whole period the way he was rolling, but Ware's minutes without Bam were useful to end the third quarter. It's hard for me to blame Spo for allowing Bam to get some rest when the lineup without him wasn't sinking. Hindsight is 20/20.
The Heat's offense is admittedly 3-pointer or bust. You need math on your side when teams have more talent than you do. The Heat are operating without a floor general or an elite creator. The top five offenses in the league (Cavs, Knicks, Nuggets, Celtics, Thunder) all have one or the other. Some of those teams have two elite creators who break down a defense. You need those dogs to be great on that end.
Spo hasn't been perfect—he has been bad by his standards. But he's not on the hot seat. Fans are so used to Spo cooking with expired items that they forget the items are expired. The losses to the tanking teams are tough, but you can't call for his job after losing to the best team in the league. (Or after the last two years when he's operating with a wide talent discrepancy compared to the rest of the league.)
New location, same Mitchell
Davion Mitchell is a handful point-of-attack defender who can pass a little bit. The new Heat addition was one of the bright spots in a disheartening week of Heat basketball.
Mitchell's in a new location but has the same fastball. He dialed up this 90 MPH baby and hit Andrew Wiggins in stride. Mitchell isn't a standout scorer, so feeding Bam Adebayo will be his first or second read most of the time.
These pick-and-roll reps benefit Bam and keep the offense flowing. Bam got jumpers playing off of Mitchell in the Celtics and Thunder shellackings.
Even outside of their growing PnR connection, Mitchell is already showing a tendency to find Bam at all costs. This sneaky, underhand, left-handed, one-motion pass to Bam was cool.
Mitchell's point-of-attack defense is on the surface. His hustle and tenacity jumped off the screen with this chase-down block in Dallas.
Defense is his selling point, but teams already leave him when he's stationed in the corner, which shrinks Miami's floor. He's 3/10 from deep since coming to the 305. It will take more than that to demand respect from coaches and defenders.
Another new Heat player needs to revert to his old self
Andrew Wiggins was another Heat player affected by the stomach virus. He missed the Mavericks game, so we're judging his first week based on the Celtics and Thunder games.
The Heat need Wiggins to be closer to his Timberwolves days as a paint attacker, and we didn't get that in those two games. He shot eight 3s against the Celtics. We knew he wouldn't shoot a ton of middies like he did in Minnesota, but getting to the rim is a must with this Heat roster.
Wiggins' shot chart was full of catch-and-shoot 3s. He only shot 27% on 5.5 catch-and-shoot 3's. Good looks were generated, but they weren't dropping. That'll change as the process continues to get him good looks, but we need an uptick in driving to the basket. Wiggins did lead the Heat with 18 drives in his first two outings but only shot six times on those drives. We need Wiggins to collapse the defense off drives, and to do that, the defense must know you're a threat to score there.
It was an average debut for the new 22. The defense popped, and Wiggins made plays out of the post, which can add another dimension to a struggling Heat offense. The Heat get a much-needed break with the All-Star festivities coming up. Hopefully, Wiggins can relax, watch film, and come back shooting better and playing more urgently.
The Heat rookie has length on length
Kel'el Ware didn't get a break, playing 32 minutes against the Mavericks. Bam was out with knee soreness, so Ware was the lone big.
The Dallas Mavericks were without Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Livley. Kessler Edwards was the tallest player to play over 5 minutes for the Mavs. He's only 6-foot-8, so Ware should've dominated tonight.
That didn't quite happen, but some plays popped. Ware's 3-ball has gone cold, but seeing the young big fight on the offensive glass was noticeable. He was getting easy putbacks. Ware's motor and enthusiasm for hoops were questioned coming into the year-- offensive rebounding is mostly want-to. He wanted a lot of these boards and skyscraped over the Maverick smalls.
He got his own board and wouldn't be denied. On the other end, his full defensive repertoire was displayed. Ware's in good position here, not ball-watching. He closes out on Edwards with discipline and sticks with him, making that an impossible layup attempt. These are sequences where Ware takes advantage of his inspector gadget limbs on both sides.
He had 17 and 9 on the night, and Tyler Herro added a 40-piece. It wasn't enough to beat an injury-ridden Mavericks squad. Newcomer Kyle Anderson had a double-double and was plus-13 in the loss. That was unexpected, but if he keeps it up, there will be more words on him. That's four straight losses for the Heat. Nobody needs this All-Star break more than them.
Stats as of 02/13/25 via PivotFade, NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Cleaning The Glass, and PBP Stats.