The Miami Heat’s current difficult stretch reached another devastating blow Saturday night versus the Houston Rockets. They lost at the buzzer off an Amen Thompson game-winning tip in, dropping their fourth straight game in Houston 123-122.
Miami is now sporting a 38-33 record and dipped even further into the play-in picture as the ninth seed. They are .5 games behind the eighth seed Orlando Magic, 1.0 game back of sixth and 2.0 games back of fifth.
It was a game of runs against Houston, as a double-digit lead for the Heat going into the fourth quarter was quickly evaporated. Kevin Durant stepped up to hit an array of clutch buckets down the stretch and passed Michael Jordan for fifth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the process. Durant finished with 27 points on 9 of 17 shooting.
Bam Adebayo got the stop defensively against a Durant midrange attempt in the final seconds, but the Heat were unable to secure the rebound— allowing Thompson to walk it off with the follow up tip-in. Thompson had a dominant 24/18/4 double-double on 10 of 17 himself, good for 58% overall on route to being the hero for Houston.
The blown fourth quarter lead spoiled another Adebayo masterclass performance. The star Heat big man led with a game-high 32 points and 21 rebounds. It was the first 30-20 game of Adebayo’s career and the first for the Heat franchise since Hassan Whiteside in 2018.
Tyler Herro also added 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists along with 21 points from Simone Fontecchio— but it wasn’t enough for Miami. Pelle Larsson also continued with his impactful efforts recently with 19 points, including a poster slam dunk over Aaron Holiday in the first half. Kel’el Ware was held to just five minutes off the bench and virtually a non-factor in this matchup.
Miami was without three key rotation pieces in Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. all due to injury.
Both teams shot the ball well and played a great competitive game before the Rockets ultimately came away with the victory. Each of Miami and Houston split their season series 1-1.
It still won’t get any easier for the Heat to snap out of this losing streak amid the injuries. And another tough opponent is coming up versus Victor Wembanyama and the Western Conference second seed San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
stat man what type of stat is it when a guy doesnt block out his guy .
Defensive rebounding percentage – DREB%
DREB% with player on
Gardner 77.6
Adebayo 74.4
Johnson 74.2
Jakucionas 73.2
Mitchell 72.5
Powell 71.5
Fontecchio 71.4
Larsson 71.4
Jaquez 70.7
Wiggins 70.7
Herro 69.5
Jovic 68.9
Smith 68.8
Ware 68.7
https://www.pbpstats.com/on-off/nba/stat?Season=2025-26&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&TeamId=1610612748&Stat=DefReboundPct
in the middle of the season i was up in the air is ware closer to wemby or ayton.answer right now hes closer to jovic .
At least it’s not a blowout 😕
heartbreaker.blowouts ez on heart
tomorrows game only on peacock
btw on that last play herro was on the ct wtf and his guy was thompson who he didnt block out..when u need a stop why the f is herro on the ct dumbot.
I agree. Herro should have been on the bench and replaced by a better defender. That one is on Spo.
Yes. They needed a stop, not a score.
im not saying kj could be like thompson oh yes i am.slam dunk winner that can shoot little bit.guy puts niko in over him rc.let kj gardner play spobot there athletic and rugged something we dont have much of.id give them more minutes than ty.tys a softy like my teams athletic and rough.
As has been pointed out, one is a #4 pick, the other undrafted. To try to compare them at this stage isn’t very realistic.
f draft position brady was a sixth.what does that have to do with kj.watch the games .when hes played hes looked very good correct? even his 3s look on point.with that athleticism he can be as least as good as thompson who only plays cause of his athleticism .amen cant shoot a lick 22% on 3s.kjs got perfect nba muscular build spobot doesnt give him a chance oh but the 64 million dollar man gets chance after chance after chance after chance.
You change opinions like the Florida weather. You questioned why we kept Keshad over Bryant. Now you think he may be the next big thing, comparing him to an 18/8/5 player. You constantly say you wish we had a player like this one or that one, and most of the time ‘that’ player was a high draft pick. Draft picks matter. I gave you a list of just a few of the top 5 draft picks and they were some of the greatest players of all time. Draft picks matter.
i liked yurtseven,not tb never dissed kj rc.guys phenomenal athlete .fkn coach wont play him.rather play less athletic guys
as instinctive as is he is offensively which he is .he has no clue how to defend which for me makes him unplayable.gimme a guy who will score less(pelle gardner) but makes it harder for the other team to score,and there are plenty of nights where ty shoots low % and every night he suks on d so what good is he plus will eventually break down or suk in the playoffs .is it he just doesnt give a f about d cause hes fairly athletic tall and not a stringbean.if the guy just put in the time to learn to defend just a little bit he could be an asset.that is a player not dedicated to his kraft.maybe his new family more important and his bank acct.duncan was just a bad athlete.ty has the qualities to at least be an average or below average defender .
ant man knee inflamation.out few weeks that court is very hard adam body needs to rest after a game eliminate b2bs
Overall, I think the overmatched Heat team did a commendable job last night, especially when you consider that Powell (22.3 ppg), Wiggins (15.9 ppg) and Jaquez (15.0 ppg) did not play.
The stats for the game were fairly even. What really stuck out to me was bench scoring. In 2025-2026, Houston’s bench averages 28.2 ppg while Miami’s bench averages 42.3 ppg. Yesterday, Houston’s bench scored 17 points while Miami’s bench scored a total of 10 points.
It is clear Miami has a deep bench consisting of good supporting players. However, what the team lacks is elite players. At present, Bam is the only A player on the team. He alone, is not enough to elevate Miami to elite status. This fact does not excuse each and every player from giving 100%, on both offense and defense. each and every game. There are several players on the team who do that and a few who don’t.
In addition to getting rid of Rozier’s dead weight contract this summer, Riley should do everything possible to get rid of players who are unwilling or incapable of giving 100% on both the offensive AND defensive ends of the floor, such as Herro, Ware and Jovic. Furthermore, it appears Riley is willing to let Powell walk in free agency and Wiggins to opt out of the final year of his contract, based on the fact neither has been signed to an extension agreement.
Any way you cut it, Riley missed the opportunity for a “soft rebuild” by failing to trade players such as Powell, Wiggins, Rozier, Jovic, Herro or Ware by the February 5th deadline. At this point, I have no idea what his plans are to restore Miami to contender status. However, I wouldn’t doubt that he throws in the towel and retires at the end of this season, leaving the mess he created for his successor to clean up.
Being a perpetually mediocre play-in team may be good enough for Arison and Riley, but it isn’t good enough for most Heat fans. I’m one of them.
spos post game speeches falling on deaf ears for heat fans same old bs great point sun bam cant elevate us to elite status a true ss could.prime jimmy on this team might be good enough to get us to the finals
Prime 2023 Jimmy yes. Not 2026 Jimmy. Riley should have traded him when his value was high.
why not try for a championship.next year
i said prime time jimmy.jimmy got father time soon after.norms got that disease now wiggy to.aka to much wear and tear.i wouldnt resign either u gotta go young free some $$ up.bballs a young mans game
That’s exactly why Miami should have had a fire sale at the trade deadline to acquire assets. Its about survival of the fittest. While Miami is running in place, young teams are acquiring assets and rebuilding for the future.
these young team atl char orl about to pass our non athletic ars.pat likes nice nonathletic small teams
I thought spo should have pulled bam for a couple of minutes after he thought he picked up his fifth foul.
For the rest of the game you could see bam prioritizing not picking up his fifth.
That’s water under the bridge. It was a gut punch of a loss, especially after Herro and Fontecchio’s heads up play.
I think games like this even though we lost them, are useful for the squad moving forward for them to see that they can be competitive at the end of games.
spo must of hated wares 1st qtr performance,but early in the year niko would suk and suk and suk but still get mins.wassup eric why the hate for ware is he to tall
Should of won this if they’re serious about being a top 6 seed, I still have hope, but time is running out. If we’re set for another year of the play in…. then I don’t want it. We’re better off not making the play in, just let the hornets,hawks, or bulls have it. Maybe not making it will let pat know he has to look himself in the mirror and make some serious moves or have a end of the year retirement speech. Right now I’m leaning towards soft tank cuz this draft class is loaded, and might have a good chance to get a top 10 pick or higher. Also silver will change up the draft soon, after this upcoming draft class. Should of tanked last season but this year would be a nice consolation prize.
⬆️ WHAT BG-305 SAID
When the team beat Houston and the Nets twice, hfl felt we could compete in the east and asked if I agreed. I said I would judge them after the next 11 games, starting with Charlotte. They started 4-0, but now are 4-4. Unless they miraculously win the next 3 (never say never), I will stick with what I’ve said all season: the team is better this season, has some promising young talent, but needs to find a real leader who can carry the team in a game like this in order to be truly competitive. At his best, Butler was one of those players. Despite certain stats, I keep yelling at the tv ‘where is the defense?!?!’. It seems porous to me. There are only 3 teams in the east, as of today, that give up more ppg than we do, and none of those are in the top 11. In fairness, the Heat are the second highest scoring team in the entire league. More was needed to be truly competitive from the beginning of the season. I am happy with the youth movement, but the only young player who, imo, could be a star based on talent potential is Ware, and he is in a major rut at the moment. The rest of the young players can be solid, complimentary players.
jjj norm wigg out rc when whole can compete with anybody in east.maybe not bost
We can keep making excuses until the season ends. Really good teams find a way to win when it’s crucial to do so. Losing to Orlando? Getting crushed by Charlotte? Blowing a 9 point 4th quarter lead last night? Poor, very poor. Unless they win the next 3 in a row, I believe there is no way they can compete for the ecf (if that’s not the goal, then what is?). And if they do win the next 3, I don’t think my opinion will change much, unless they are dominating wins.
i dont miss norms game that much ,i miss jjj game i really miss wiggs game.i think wigg is second best player on team and jjj third best.u take a teams second third best player away its gonna have a negative effect.
Ware is a huge talent, but maybe its not right time for a center of his characteristics to be a star. The types of Jokic, Wemby, KAT, Embiid, Sengun, Bam, Holmgren are centers only by name.
His type of player, like Turner, Jackson, Mobley for example, are all good, but not top players in the league. 20 years ago it would be different.
Two of those 3 have been all stars and one dpoy. Ware has similar, though lesser, skills like Wemby – size, length, good outside shooting. He needs to give better effort and continue to develop.
Wemby is a different player offensively, basically a small forward hidden in the body of a center. Ware is more of a center with additional skills. Defensively they are similar players.
Its not just effort. Ware often struggles in defense against faster guards and wings. I would say that Wemby is a better matchup for him like those Houston wings. I expect him to start against SA and play well.
Great game. Heat without 3 of their top 7, Houston shot well above their averages (+4.7FG % and +9.3 3FG%) and Miami was ahead with 5 seconds left. If they get anything at all from Ware or Jovic they win the game. Heat had 8 guys locked in, moving at full speed, and then there is Ware and Jovic both sticking out because they aren’t doing that. The difference in intensity between someone like Fontecchio, who is a fringe rotation player and has had an up and down year but plays hard every possession, vs Ware/Jovic is striking.
Reason Ware doesn’t play is apparent when looking at these visual plus-minus charts, they look like this most games. The Heat build an early lead and then Ware subs in and the lead evaporates. In this game he was -13, he came in with Heat up 23-11 and left with Heat down 29-30. Also had 2 of the team’s 9 turnovers in 4 minutes. He didn’t play again until the final play when he was completely out of position for the rebound
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/plus-minus/202603210HOU.html
ware hardly played jovic shouldnt play maybe a little more from jaco or dru pts
He played 4 minutes and that was enough to cost them the game, even taking out the final play, because in his 1Q minutes the Heat went from a 12 point lead to being down 1
yeah his play is really disappointing.fn spo jerked him around whole year ,needed to start day 1 with bam play 35 mins for 30 games than reevaluate..
He’s not playing minutes because of his defense. His defensive rebounding is worst on the entire team.
In the 1Q he was out of position and let Thompson drive right past for a layup. He turns sideways a lot on defense and gives the offensive player an open driving lane or rebounding position. He also didn’t even try to close out on Reed Sheppard for a wide open 3, just stayed in the lane. Watch him in Pnr defense, he is in the lane in deep drop coverage, 10 feet away from the play, while anyone else on the Heat is switching or is up close to the pick. They’re probably playing more zone when he is in to hide how bad he is on defense
agree just put him and bam in zone.he cant guard at all,his defense is terrible.i have no problem not giving ware lots minutes.againt teams that have two bigs prob play little more but yes hes been a major dissapointment.im not giving up on him(rc has warned me on that)but i dont like what i see from him.lately
Funny you should say that. I have been saying to myself what if Ware uses the tools he has more efficiently next season and has a great year? Will someone say ‘wow, who saw this coming? I can’t believe how much he’s improved?’. I just know who might not have seen it coming.
the problem i see ware with him hes to upright when trying to guard,his side to side movement not good.never bends his knees.when the offensive player is still hes ok when moving rather fast wares got no shot to do anything defensively.no urgency in him.no motor.lazy.hope he improves we will find out next year.
To get to 46:36, we needed one of those three against west teams. Well, now we need one of one. Pity, Houston is by far the worst team among those three, that was a golden opportunity.
Ware becoming almost unplayable like Jovic. His motor & soft laid back attitude must be driving Spo crazy. Like we all can see…all he needs is to play like his hair is on fire 🔥…nothing else.
Everything you say is true. Especially about Ware’s laid back attitude. But, Jovic is in another class by himself, sort of a nepo baby inheriting everything he didn’t earn. .
This what happens when you keep picking late in the first round year after year the chances of that player being good are pretty low are there situations and cases were that played is good (maxey) yes. But Mia scouting department hasn’t been on point exactly
Larsson was #44 and is now one of the best contracts in the league. Jakucionas #20 and may end up being the best PG in the 2025 draft besides Harper. Those were effectively two lottery picks Heat just added in last two drafts
Larsson 11 points 33% 3 point shooting
Kas averaging a whopping 6 ppg
No he will not be better than Harper
Lmao two lottery picks though lmao yall are an embarrassment to be heat fans I swear eat up Pat schtick like it’s golden. I know I be saying random shit but you just be yapping
Also shooting 49% FG. In the 16 games Larsson has played >30 minutes he’s shot 49.7% and averaged 14.6/4.6/4.3, and his main job is defense
But when you look only at PPG without any other context you would conclude that Cam Thomas is better than both, when Larsson is on the way to being a top 100 player if not already there, Jakucionias is an impactful rotation player as a 19 year old (Heat are +3.7 points better when he is on the floor) and Thomas is on the fringes of the NBA
Lmao Pat is that you? Has to be because only here do some overvalue bum players it’s a shame you pat have done a number on this fanbase. Hats off to you
Cam Thomas -6.3 in 5.8k career minutes, team is worse with him playing every year of his career. According to your talent evaluation he would be one of the best players on the Heat
Sure andd do Mia has the best players on the planet in the playin for the 4th time lmao. Keep posting stats after every lost goofball
stats can be misleading the biggest one is plus minus.u can see who can play just by watching the tube.i dont need stat mans stats but i appreciate him taking the time to spit them out.guy does his homework give him credit for that.pelle is an ok player .for a 2nd rn pick its worked out for us.hes a #7 8 type guy.these are the best players on planet earth so they all have skills minus niko just some better than others.i slot pelle right in the middle with jokic on top and niko on the bottom
The top of the plus-minus list is either the best players in the NBA or good rotation players on the best teams. #1 in the NBA in plus-minus is SGA (+640). Bam is #21 between Alex Caruso and Jalen Brunson. Larsson is #125. Ware is #397
Leader in plus minus since All Star break is Wembanyama, followed by Kon Knueppel, then a bunch of Hawks (ATL has had an easy schedule)
I agree about the plus minus. It can be telling or deceptive. In the game Thursday against the Lakers, Herro had 4 or 6 points at halftime, was something like 4-11 overall, and 1-6 from distance, and was a +4. Was he efficient in the first half? Not even close. At times it can be deceptive, other times it can be a good indicator of a player’s performance. The best players logically have the best +/- because their team is often outscoring opponents when they are in the game.
what would our plus minus be if we played with the big 3 rc?what would our plus minus be if we played with jovic jovic jr and jovic sr.scrub players like us can piggy back with the best and have a good plus.u play with the jovic family even the great rc would be a minus.
Exactly.
You’re focusing too much on individual players stats and missing the effect on the team of having below average players. Those players may have a neutral or slightly positive plus minus because they play with better players – that’s what’s happening with Ware right now. But they take the team from being elite to being average or below average. And if they play on their own without the team’s best players they lose their minutes.
How this works with Ware
On the season
Bam +5.5
Ware -0.7
Bam-Ware two man lineup +1.8
Since All star break
Bam +10.5
Ware +0.3
Bam-Ware +4.1
When Ware plays with Bam he moves to a slight positive, and the two man lineup is effective but only because of Bam. When Ware plays on his own he loses his minutes. (In the 4 minutes he played vs HOU he was -13)
pelle good solid nba player.on a good team 7 8 guy. jaco not seeing anything yet.cant get to the hoop,shoots it from corner 3 well doesnt force shots.crashes the boards.backup player id predict
Bam played the whole of second half. Spo new, that without him, there would be an immediate collapse. And for nothing at the end.
Niko played 4 minutes, missed 3 shots. The good thing is he was aggressive. Those shots were good, but he didn’t made them. Maybe next time he will.
We desperately need one of Ware or Niko able to give 10-15 minutes. Those minutes needn’t be great, everything but terrible would be ok.
we need wigg jjj norm back and niko never on ct again.ware is fading fast,spobotic use doesnt help the kid
No one of those three is big enough. There is no way around, if Ware or Niko or both cant bring something, we are doomed.
That is the thing. There is such a need for a 6’10” player as a rotation player. iIf only someone could fill it
Precious probably could of filled it, but now we will never know.
they were counting on shnozic.not pats first f up lately
goldin can play vagi spobot so fn stubborn