Just like that, a new era of Miami Heat basketball began, and the difference showed from tipoff, most notably on the scoreboard (it didn’t last). Giannis made his impact right away, scoring 14 first-quarter points and going downhill as often as possible. Having a star on the team makes such a difference, and the Wolves really didn’t have an answer for him in the first 12 minutes
If you’ve watched Miami Heat basketball in recent years, then you know the frustration that scoring droughts and lulls bring. This wasn’t evident early on as Klay Thompson delivered from three and the Heat reserves trickled in baskets off the bench.
Weirdly, Miami’s defense was porous to start with Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards both feasting efficiently. LaMelo Ball would get in on that action as well, hitting some of the worst-looking shots I’ve ever seen.
Miami’s rotation was interesting, with a lot of guys seeing action and delivering. From Jovic and Hardaway to Portis and Larsson, the reserves brought energy, played aggressive defense, and hit some good looks.
There were some flashes of how good Bam and Giannis’ two-man game might be, but the non-Giannis minutes and Miami’s clunky defensive rotation took the shine off of what was an exciting start.
The Heat and Wolves went back and forth for the majority of the first half, but Minnesota stole momentum late and would take a 10-point lead into halftime off strong play from Ball and Edwards.
The Wolves continued their offensive assault to start the second half, extending their lead to 17 quickly. The Heat would fight back, however, with Giannis, Bam, and Wiggins all scoring tough baskets to trim the lead.
The Wolves wouldn’t go away with Edwards feasting on the Heat from beyond the arc (and in general). The Heat’s defense didn’t look horrible; they were aggressive (sometimes to a fault), but it just didn’t have answers for the Wolves throughout the third. It didn’t help that the Heat really struggled from three-point range (below 30% on the night), which prevented them from making a quick run.
Bam hit a string of great shots to stop the bleeding, but with Anthony Edwards on fire and Miami playing sloppily, the Heat entered the fourth quarter trailing by eighteen.
Minnesota showed no signs of slowing down to start the fourth even with Giannis doing his best to will the Heat into a competitive scoring run. Miami’s effort level offensively after falling behind was frankly pathetic and epitomized by a Jovic forced airball three-point attempt.
Giannis would exit at the 7:07 mark and never return, signalling the end of the night for the Heat as the Wolves continued to run up the score, while the Heat had no answers on the other end. Miami would end this game with the bench on the floor and not many fans in the seats.
The Heat showed tonight in flashes that they have the potential to be very good. But it’s going to have to be for more than one half, and by more than one player.
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I like Bam as a player but he is simply not a max guy…I wish he was on a more reasonable contract..The Heat simply gave him that max because he is a “company” guy… But goddamit we need a true max guy next Giannis…You see how dynamic Giannis is…We need another one of those guys..Not Bam.100% agree
Lifetimes are lived in moments. But one moment doesn’t have to define a lifetime.
I don’t think we should freak out about this loss. Yes, it was bad, but this is the first game against a good team.
One thing Spo needs to work on is the two man game with Giannis and Bam. Both need to be involved to make the most of two athletic bigs.
I know we have a superstar, but this just doesn’t seem like Heat basketball. Too much of giving it to Giannis and getting out of the way. It’s a way too predictable offense. Go back to the motion we were using last year. Cuts to the basket, let anyone bring the ball up, etc.
We will figure it out… It’s just game 1. Give it a little time.
Amen
A lot to take away from this game.
DEFENSE
First things first. Miami gave up 131 points. Without a stellar defense, the Heat will not be able to compete against high scoring teams, especially if those teams also have very good defenses.
BENCH SCORING
The Heat is expected to rely heavily on bench scoring this year. Larsson had 2 points, Hardaway, 3, Jovic 4 and Portis 7. The Heat cannot compete at a high level if the second unit rotation players are producing 16 points a game.
3 POINT SHOOTING
The starters shot 6-19 (31.6%) from deep and the bench players were 2/14 (14.3%). Several of the missed shots were uncontested. Overall, Miami shot 3 pointers at a 24.2% clip. The Heat cannot compete even for a play-in spot with those numbers.
REBOUNDING
The Heat was outrebounded 52-34. This team can not compete at an elite level if it is outrebounded on a nightly basis.
PLAYMAKING
Other than Mitchell (11), Larsson (4) and Adebayo (4), no other player had more than 2 assists. Note: Conwell had 2 assists in 3 minutes.
PACE
Last season, Miami’s pace was the fastest in the NBA. As a result, the Heat was #2 in scoring in the league. Against the T’Wolves, the team looked slow and disjointed. Although there was an effort to run, it appeared the players were leaning far too heavily on trying to get the ball to Giannis at the expense of team flow and rhythm and their own individual styles of play. Because Miami did not rebound effectively, it was unable to establish its running game.
ATTACKING THE PAINT
Other than Giannis, the Heat did not have anyone successfully penetrating the paint to get easier shots or to cause the defense to collapse and open up perimeter players.
TURNOVERS
Miami had several careless turnovers. Mitchell alone had 5, which is uncharacteristic of his 2025-2026 performance when he was tied for the NBA’s third best assist to turnover ratio of 4.2. Against Minnesota he had 11 assists and 5 turnovers (an a/to ratio of 2.2).
PLAYERS LACK OF FAMILIARITY
This was the first time this group played together in a regular season NBA game. It was clear the players have not had enough time to mesh together as a team. That process may take several games/weeks or months. Communication between players appeared poor.
COACHING
It seemed that Spo was slow to react and call timeouts at stratgic moments to make adjustments and disrupt the T’Wolves flow. He was also slow to substitute bench players when it became obvious the game was a blowout.
My grades for Wednesday’s performances are as follows:
A – Giannis
B – Bam, Wiggins, Mitchell, Thompson
C – Portis, Richards, Fontecchio, Gardner, Conwell, Spoelstra
D – Jovic, Hardaway, Larsson,
F – Hmm?
I think there are more than enough issues for Spo to begin addressing. Unfortunately, it is doubtful he will be able to correct everything overnight. The Heat has 3 games in 4 days beginning Friday against Detroit, followed by Charlotte and Dallas. Hopefully, once all the glitches are worked out, we will see a much better version of this year’s team. Meanwhile, all we can do is to keep our powder dry and enjoy the games.
wow i get to read this for free no barry jackson paywall.ty sm.to get a top 2 player u have to give up the farm.i dont miss herro hes a one wayer.jjj jr will be missed the most imo.love to see him back here u gotta do that trade dont forget about port he will be a key contributor.bams gotta be better id give him a d.for what theyre paying him hes gotta be 20 10 guy.just from an effort point of view it was an f.i wasnt crazy about tim hardaway jr signing think hes been pretty mediocre player his whole career.klay imo needs to play more u give him open looks hes gonna bury them.again dav with that lack of scoring mentality it must be his dna,one possession in the key had good look passed out to niko with like 4 secs left putting niko in a tough spot which he airballed the shot.betting on niko improvment risky proposition for me davs a backup until he tries to score more.we need help in bc its so obvious im sure by trade deadline some bucket getter guard will be a heater.once again sm ty so much for your article it should be in the miami herald front page of sports
SM, as always, has written a fair, honest, in depth analysis. But you once accused me of sucking up? lol!
Thanks RC. Hopefully, we will all be more positive after this weekend’s games. I don’t think any of the problems witnessed vs T’Wolves are unsolvable. Its going to take time for all the pieces to fit together.
I think too many Heat players are pressing/playing uncharacteristically attempting to demonstrate they belong on the same court as Giannis. They all just need to settle down, communicate with each other, play calmly and in rhythym.
I also think Spo should not hesitate to bring in reserves such as Conwell, Gardner and Richards when regular rotation players such as Thompson, Hardaway, Jovic, Larsson and Portis are not performing up to expectations.
Detroit should be a good test tomorrow.
I agree on the reserves. Richards seemed to have great chemistry with Giannis in preseason. Gardner certainly deserves some minutes.
I also think the team abandoned their identity in that game. It seemed no matter what, it was give the ball to Giannis and get out of the way. That is not a winning formula. Nor is Bam parking at the 3 point arc unless he is hitting at least 36%.
Thanks heat. Yesterday, Herro had 24 points, Jaquez had 22, Jakucionis 15 and Ware had 7 points and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes. The Heat’s second leading scorer yesterday after Giannis was Bam with 15. It was as though the teams morphed into the Milwaukee Heat and Miami Bucks.
I second what hfl said about what you wrote here. It’s very insightful and seems accurate to me.
A team needs to be diversified and able to score in every way conceivable. You can be very strong in one area but it won’t cover up your being weak in another area.
It’s only one game so I can’t be sure yet, but there may be a weakness in guard play in terms of penetration, finding their own shot, slashing and finishing at the basket, and doling out assists and lobs.
I agree about guard play. However, I don’t see Mitchell as the problem. I see Thompson and Hardaway as the “weak links.” The Heat sure could use Powell’s 3 point shooting. If the team is not making its 3’s, it changes the whole complexion of the game, Opponents can collapse on the middle to help defend against our bigs AND improve their rebounding opportunities. Its hard to win if the opposing team is hitting its 3’s and outrebounding our front court by damn near 20.
I agree on the weak link and it’s not Davion. Mitchell would be a stabilizing force with his dribbling, ball distribution and his defensive game if we got more from the shooting guard. it’s way too early to be sure but Thompson and Hardaway appear to be mostly perimeter catch and shoot types, albeit very good ones at times (Thompson was one of the best ever, but he had Curry as his PG then). They can’t create their own offense or get downhill so they don’t open anything up for assists or lobs either. And they are also not great on defense even though that’s less of a factor than their lack of offensive creativity. It may become obvious that we will need to replace Powell’s skill set.
Yup. There are a few players out there. Riley should be exploring his options now.
best article ive read all day see above
minn a very good team lots of athletes everywhere.thats still gonna be our cryptonite super athletic teams. think we can win around 50 but imo we need a bucket getter in the bc.bc again is not good enough.again theres a certain guy here that says nikos back lol what is he drinking.after few minutes of niko he proclaimed that did he watch the prior 4 years.wishing the best for him hes a heater just not seeing it.gl niko.pelle looks different to me this year not sure if hes hurt but doesnt seem to ahve the same athleticism as last year.bam needs to do more hes paid like a max player.his effort tonight was bad.i want klay on the ct over hardaway jr.klays an all timer gotta play him 30 minutes a night
One game where everyone other than Giannis looked like s**t and you single out Niko. Pelle, who some argued should be a starter, had two points. Niko had 4. lol.
The entire team sucked but you do you, B&J.
hes back your mip
Lots of critics gonna have a field day in this blowout.
Some of the stuff tonight is just a matter of the team is going to take time to gel.
Stuff like the missed three pointers (given the number of open looks missed, and Miami’s decent cast of three point shooters), I think you can chalk up to having a bad night.
The rebounding to me is the most concerning. Antman out rebounded Bam and Giannis. I did notice Rudy getting away with a number of timely shoves, but when our PF and C are out rebounded by 6’4 guard, and our leading rebounder would have ranked 4th on their team, some effort needs to be questioned.
And specifically concerning to me – Bam’s effort seemed poor. Wasn’t hustling for boards, rather than risking fouls, ole’d a couple of driving Wolves. His fit on offense may be awkward with Giannis, but I thought he’d do the little things and find his spots on offense. Tonight he didn’t do the little things.
Bam’s adjusting to second option playing alongside a more dominant big. They need to figure it out.
Yes, the rebounding reflects the rest of the game, with the Heat losing 52-34. 18 turnovers and 24% 3p% won’t win you too many games.
Chalk it up to an “off night” for everyone, except Giannis. At least now the team has a road map of where it has to go and what it needs to do. Time for everyone to focus and doing their respective jobs…including Spo.