Six days ago, the Miami Heat held an eight-point second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Paycom Center. Though they let it slip, getting outscored 64-38 over the next 18:42, making an ill-fated comeback attempt before losing, 124-112.
On Saturday, the Heat met the reigning champions again, this time in Miami, Fla., albeit without one of their best players in Tyler Herro. And the Heat held strong on the home floor, ultimately securing a gritty 122-120 win despite trailing by as much as 12 points in the first half.
The Heat’s win was led by none other than Bam Adebayo, who poured in a team-high 30 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, a new career high. He added 12 rebounds — six offensive — and four assists in 32 minutes.
However, it wasn’t just Adebayo who made an impact. All 10 of the Heat’s players — from Adebayo to Myron Gardner, who had 11 points and five rebounds on a perfect 4-4 shooting (3-3 3PT) off the bench — everyone contributed.
It was a collective team effort, with a capital “C” and “T.”
Pelle Larsson scored 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting; Norman Powell tallied 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting from deep; Andrew WIggins had 15 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Additionally, Simone Fontecchio had 13 points and five rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting off the bench; Kel’el Ware had seven points plus nine boards. It was an all around effort.
The win also marked the first time the Heat had at least 34 more field goal attempts than their opponent. The Heat attempted 111 shots, while the Thunder shot just 77. Miami had 21 offensive rebounds to the Thunder’s five. It finished a plus-five on the glass entirely and a plus-24 in second-chance points.
The Heat close their homestand 2-1. At 22-20, they will now embark on a five-game West Coast road trip, beginning with the Golden State Warriors Monday.
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So we continue to be a shots on goal team. That can play with anyone when they’re hitting shots or getting a lot of them.
Is there an answer they can find internally for when the shots miss or they can’t get two feet in the paint?
I was convinced, that they will loose this one somehow, so I m pleasantly surprised.
Its classic Heat team, at its best when severely shorthanded, and at its worst at full rooster available.
I almost thought we would lose too, but it’s hard for any team to lose when they have 30 more shots then the other team, and kill them with so many 2nd chance points.
One name who has emerged as a possible target is Miami Heat’s Simone who began the season in scorching form but has recently struggled to find a role in Erik Spoelstra’s rotation. According to The Athletic , the Knicks, who are exploring ways to move Guerschon Yabusele and second-year wing Pacome Dadiet, have a feasible pathway to land the Italian Fontecchio.
Edwards noted that the Knicks are expected to shop a package of Yabusele, Dadiet and the Wizard’s 2026 protected first-round pick — likely to turn into multiple second-rounders — with hopes of landing a useful piece by the NBA trade deadline.
I would do the trade, then trade Yabusele along with the pick to another team and keep Dadiet. Dadiet is an athletic 20 year old on a rookie contract who was projected to be a 3 and d player. A project for sure, but gets rid of a player with no future here and opens up more cap space.
Dadiet, btw, is 6’8”-6’9” and 210 pounds.
Until/unless Riley plans to bring in another frontcourt player to rotate with Bam and Ware, I would do this trade (and hopefully get a second rounder in the process). I would keep all three unless they can be used to bring in another rotation player e.g., Rozier and second rounder for DeRozan.
2025-2026 Contracts:
Yabusele: $5.5M + Dadiet: 3.85M = $8.35M
Fontecchio: $8.30M
Yabusele has a player option for 2026-2027 for $5.8M.
Dadiet has team options for 2026-2027 ($2.98M) and 2027-2028 ($5.74M).
Fontecchio is on an expiring contract.
The Knicks have several future second-round picks between 2026-2032, including their own as well as picks from Detroit (2028, 2029, 2030), Charlotte (2031), Boston (2026, potentially) and Indiana/Phoenix (2028)
Guerschon Yabusele (Age: 30 Ht: 6’7″ Wt: 265 lbs Birthplace: Dreux, France)
Pacôme Dadiet (Age: 20 Ht: 6’9″ Wt: 210 lbs Birthplace: Aubange, France)
Really nice win. Gardner seems to be finding his way,,giving us another contributor.,Abd what is it about Pelle because every time we do well he seems to have a hand in it. And the Fonz helped out too. This is another game to remind us we aren’t far from getting wins like this consistently.’
Heat needs:
1) a third big, preferably with a little chutzpah, like Isaiah Stewart, Bobby Portis, Salti Aldama, Goga Bitadze, Jusuf Nurkic, Obi Toppin, Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic, Daniel Gafford, Marvin Bagley, Zach Collins…somebody.
2) a 2-way PG
3) to trade Herro for a player such as Dejounte Murray – or – young talent, draft pick(s) and a filler before the trade deadline
4) to make sure players clearly understand their roles and are able to function comfortably together as one unit/team
5) to decide if it is going to be a play-in, contending or re-tooling team
6) to keep eyes open for a ss or a good-very good player who becomes available who could make the team better. This can be anywhere from Giannis to someone released as a cost cutting measure.
7) to continue developing its younger players (Ware, Larsson, Johnson, Jaquez, Jovic, Jakucionis and Gardner), as well as any players acquired in trades or draft(s).
8) to decide who to keep beyond the Feb. trade deadline and summer of 2026 and plan accordingly (extend, trade, allow contract to expire, etc.). Trades should be for the purpose of improving the team now or acquiring young talent to develop and/or future draft picks.
great article as usual except its clear jovics game doesnt cut it here how many bad moments versus good moments over the years.seen enough of his game.go east young man go east of the atlantic.pelles rough rugged and athletic game traveled very nicely from sweden.
Jovic has absolutely no incentive for going anywhere. Do you know how far $62.4M goes in Serbia?
Thats one thing I never liked about Riley overpaying our players past their actual market value .
happy days when fonz contributes and happier days when tyler sits.and the happiest of days will be when shnozola doesnt play.we traded in a butler for a gardner grass is greener on the other side.the gardner did it last night.as rc mentioned why dru over gardenr dumbot move.wtf has happened to dru btw was he happy just getting paid a few mil.idk what to think of kaspar jurys out.im 100% sure pelle jjj ware are youngens for the future and right now.bams coming around after couple weeks shtty bball u add jjj to the mix and theres lots good players on our team.just need a ss for jewelry .make a good trade or two the playoffs could be interesting.and please may tyler never play another game for us.he can take his punky outfits and punky voice somewhere else.
I came to the realization that JJJ and Pelle are keepers a few weeks ago. I also said that we needed to trade Ty and make the overpaid Niko an eleventh man, that was months ago. I try to give the honest assessments but it’s hard because there is always the chance for growth of young players and JJJ surprised me. Kaspar is a player I would like to keep watching and Simone is a decent tenth man. Keshad is a twelth man. Myron may be a ninth man and don’t give up on Dru either. He’s had so many good moments, so he deserves some slack. If there is another player to trade, who may bring something back, and only if we got something really good, it’d be Davion. Or you could sub him and move everyone else down a notch. He’s probably not good enough offensively to be a starter, and we could upgrade there by getting Morant. Ty and Davion for Morant would be ideal. Add Morant to this core, and play Ware more as a starter, and this team becomes a threat to get to the second round of the playoffs. But, Ty has to go, and Jovic can only see the court in garbage time. Just trying to make us better….
agree except on dru hes good at steals plays decent d but his offensive game has been trash.when he first started with us he was hitting his 3s at a good clip.but hes fallen off.never really gonna hurt with his d but his offense to weak to make an impact.at least dav can get to the hoop little bit but davs offense not up to snuff either.morant for ty dav would help us.then get a big and i like our chances to compete in the east
Sounds good to me, I’m all for it.
If you were to start Ja, Powell and Ware, Wiggins and Bam would be overwhelmed on defense. If Wiggins opts out, then what?
I still don’t believe Morant is a good fit with Miami. The team has already experienced a prima donna and we see all how that worked out. I do believe Miami needs a good two-way PG like Dejounte Murray, since Powell is not a good defender and Ware’s defense is still far from being a finished product. But that’s just me.
I would definitely keep Mitchell as back-up/second unit PG and crunch time defender. Davion is a good shooter (.398 3-point shooter) but is unselfish and is always looking for open playmates rather than shooting first. He’s the direct opposite of Herro. That’s why he’s averaging 7.3 assists per game. Dru is not a scorer at all but is a very good emergency back-up PG.
I agree Herro has to go. The sooner the better. I proposed trading him to Detroit yesterday for Isaiah Stewart, Caris Levert (expiring contract), and a 1st rounder. Detroit has an excellent defense but needs shooters. Herro starting and Robinson coming off the bench would be lethal. The Pistons have all their 1st round picks and several 2nd rounders between 2026-2031.
Jovic needs to be sent to Sioux Falls until he finds his mojo and his confidence.
Well, I’ll be. A reference to rc without beating him up. I’m touched. I will have to print this comment out and put it on the fridge and I will get the warm and fuzzies every time I look at it, lol.
watching ja on prime before nfl playoff games. 20pts 10 assists at half.makes other players better around him.get him
On the phone now with the Heat brain trust.
Sorry I missed your call. I’ll have my people call your people.
The fact he is able to turn the switch off and on like that tells me he has been quiet quitting/sandbagging the past several games in order to get traded. Can you spell Déjà vu?
The fact he is injury prone also concerns me.
Finally, like Herro, he is a polarizing figure. (e.g., someone who causes strong, divided opinions, creating intense support from one group and strong opposition from another, with few people feeling neutral). I don’t think this is good for team cohesiveness, if it is not resolved up front.
This was an exhilarating win. But I don’t believe in irrational exuberance at times like this in the same way I don’t believe in the sky is falling despondency when things aren’t going well. I will keep researching the rumor mill and hope that there will be a move or 2 sooner rather than later. Right now, we are a 22-20 team in 8th place in the east.
I’ve decided to take games one at a time. I live my life one day at a time, why should I view sports any differently. I’m going to enjoy (or bitch about) what’s in front of me today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn’t arrived. One day/one game at a time. Hopefully, there will be more good ones than bad ones.
Words of wisdom.
Thanks 30. I have obviously been spending far too much time thinking about this stuff. It is better to live in the moment. If the guys are playing hard and giving it their best, I can live with that. Sandbagging players, poor coaching decisions and organizational mismanagement are what I have a problem dealing with.
Great bounceback win after that disappointing Celtics loss. Now I can enjoy my night and sleep peacefully.
I’m starting therapy on Monday for manic depression. One day up and next day down.
Me too. Group therapy? HHH group therapy haha
Don’t get your therapy here. It’s for the criminally insane and anal retentive.
Feel good win. Heat’s a jeckyll and hyde. When you thought they’re gonna go an even .500 they go beat the top team defending champs. Go figure
If Spo continues to play Herro, after his commentary about Ware, he’s not seriously about winning (or playing well)
The whole team deflates when Tyler’s playing and it’s awful to watch.
I don’t hate Tyler, but he doesn’t fit the team right now, so Spo needs to stop trying to force the square peg in the round hole.
Also keep playing the kids. This team isn’t winning a title, give Kasparas, Pelle, and Ware run.
Anyway, fun night. Let’s go Heat
I agree. Play the kids and get a few more via trades and draft. OKC is going to be riding high the next few years. Need to fight fire with fire.
Absolutely my feelings as well. Some here call me a Herro apologist. Has nothing to do with that. Yes, I think Herro is a good player who would fit well on an elite defensive team. He has proven to be a skilled offensive player. But he doesn’t fit with this team and I was unhappy when Spo inserted him back into the starting lineup. Numbers don’t lie. To this point, they show the team has a better winning percentage when he isn’t playing.
Your assessment of Herro’s game skills and how he impacts the Heat does now seem like a trend that we are seeing more often than not. There is a place for him- on the right team they will love him. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’ll say that IMO, trading him would be the best thing for the team and the player. For the Heat, it’s a confluence of several factors, his fit, his contract, and what he could bring back. And yet, he will probably be starting next game. Thats the part that is difficult to understand.
I really believe that it is wise not to upset the chemistry when things are going well. You just beat the best team in basketball. To alter the lineup is a recipe for failure. I will also admit I was upset (and cursing at the tv) when Kas fouled out and Spo went with Dru. I wanted to see him put Gardner back in. That kid was lightning in a bottle in the first half on both sides of the court. I hope to see a lot more of him.
Yup. Gardner looked good. Confident fellow.
Guess what?
Rebounds: OKC 46 Heat 51
Turnovers OKC 14 Heat 4.
Steals: OKC 3 Miami:7
Detroit is perfect team for Herro. Pistons have an excellent defensive team. Top 3 defense in the NBA, along with OKC and Boston. If Pistons could plug him in for Robinson and bring Robinson in off the bench, they would be that much more lethal. Heat could probably get Isaiah Stewart, Caris Levert and a pick for Herro. Detroit has all their first round picks 2026-2031 and a ton of 2nd round picks.
Detroit wants a superstar to pair with Cade and their center.
Herro just doesn’t fit their profile atm.
At the end of the day they still need 3pt shooting cuz thats what they’re lacking as well, so they do could definitely use herro.
Actually, he fits it perfectly. He’s a better version of Uncan surrounded by one of the NBA’s top 3 defensive teams.