The Miami Heat are coming off their worst offensive performance of the 2024-25 season against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Fortunately, they will get another crack at their Southeast Divisional foe Wednesday inside Kaseya Center, hoping to return to their winning ways after a 1-4 five-game road trip.
The Heat shot just 32.1 percent–including a season-worst 7-of-40 from 3-point range, one of their worst 3-point shooting games in franchise history–in their 98-86 loss to the Hawks earlier this week.
Andrew Wiggins led the way with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 4-of-9 from deep. Players not named Wiggins, however, shot a combined 21-of-70 (30.0 percent) and just 3-of-31 (9.7 percent) from distance.
The Heat return home, where they will play nine of their next 10, starting with Atlanta. They will have a home-heavy schedule the rest of the way, with 18 of their final 26 games coming inside Kaseya Center. Miami is 12-11 at home (19th-best), sporting a modest 0.1 NET Rating.
Miami will need to go on a late-season run with extra luck if it wants to avoid the play-in for the third-straight season. That’s still the most likely outcome with their margin-for-error becoming increasingly thin.
Can the Heat get back on track Wednesday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Bam Adebayo (calf) — QUESTIONABLE
- Josh Christopher (G-League) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (G-League) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (G-League) — OUT
- Kel’el Ware (ankle) — PROBABLE
- Andrew Wiggins (jaw) — PROBABLE
Atlanta Hawks:
- Kobe Bufkin (shoulder) — OUT
- Jalen Johnson (shoulder) — OUT
- Vit Krejci (lumbar) — OUT
- Larry Nance Jr. (knee) — OUT
- Daeqwyon Plowden (G-League) — OUT
- Trae Young (achilles) — PROBABLE
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Atlanta Hawks:
- Trae Young, G
- Dyson Daniels, G
- Zaccharie Risacher, F
- Mouhamed Gueye, F
- Onyeka Okongwu, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: Fanduel Sports Network Sun (Eric Reid & John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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atl not better than us,their best players besides trae are on diff teams or injured.this will be a w suggestion keep dunc terry on bench spobot
players 5-9 need to be replaced by g league champ players spobot
Interesting article on Ware’s stats (positives and negatives) after his first 15 games as a starter. Very encouraging considering he is a 20 year old rookie.
https://allucanheat.com/10-stats-heat-rookie-kel-el-ware-first-15-games-starter?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
him and bam not meshing on offense,
He’s 20 and his offense and defense are only going to get better. The answers are a good high assist point guard to feed him (and other players) easy shots and a good PF/C to rotate between him and Bam (such as Naz Reid, Bobby Portis Santi Aldama, etc.). Have you seen how many poor lob attempts to Ware Heat players have made in the past few games? He’s good for 5 or more dunks a game if someone is feeding him good passes.
bam gave him some bad ones last game.bams def better at that than ware.just like in football all passes are not perfect make the play .some of them on ware some on sht passes
I’ve said the same thing. It’s only been a month, waaaaaay too early to judge. Bam has excelled in his move to pf. Ware just needs more time to adapt to the NBA. Twenty years old…….
Its time to win a game, decisively.
Another very interesting article summarizing the challenges Spo is facing this season and what he needs to do to overcome them. Here’s an excerpt:
“This isn’t just about X’s and O’s. It’s about managing the psychological fallout of a franchise in flux. The Heat are grappling with an identity crisis, caught between the fading echoes of past glory and an uncertain future. Spoelstra is tasked with not just coaching basketball, but also navigating the complex emotions of a locker room reeling from Butler’s messy departure and struggling to find its footing.
The fanbase is fractured, torn between embracing the tank and clinging to playoff aspirations. But here’s the cold, hard truth: This team was never built to contend. The front office’s mishandling of the Butler situation set this season on a collision course with mediocrity long before the first tip-off.”…
https://allucanheat.com/heat-fans-learning-what-erik-spoelstra-next-big-test-post-jimmy-butler-era?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
sports is cyclical even celts lakers have had some down seasons not worried im a dolphins fan to.heat has been very good to me.no complaints.cant stay on top forever.retool but we need better gm sunman
Maybe it will now be evident to Arison that with the team in transition, it is a good time for change. The logical choice is for Riley to retire and for Spo to take his place. A new (younger) coach with more progressive/innovative ideas and a proven track record of team building and instilling a winning culture is needed. Spo can help transition him/her into Heat culture and provide detailed player profiles (strengths, weaknesses, potential, etc.).
I think Chris Quinn has paid his dues and his own ideas about how to run the team and develop players. I don’t know if he offers the kind of change the team needs or if he will simply be a continuation of the same coaching philosophy and methods we already have.
This is an interesting article questioning why Spo doesn’t use challenges more often. I can’t remember how many times the refs have made a bad or questionable call against Miami when Spo fails to challenge them. Several have been in crucial situations late in close games. Is this more evidence that he is slipping.
I don’t know if it’s the pressure of his new 8 year/$15M year/$120M contract, his divorce, having to deal with the disruption caused by Butler’s quiet quitting and trade fiasco, having to coach more recent draft picks and young players than he is comfortable with or something else. Whatever it is, he needs to fix it, sooner better than later.
Heat coach’s reason for not using challenges makes less sense than you think
Erik Spoelstra just hates them.
https://allucanheat.com/miami-heat-erik-spoelstra-not-using-challenges?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
wtf does chris martian quinn do.on the sidelines ditto caron
Chicken shit. I sense a bit of anger there. What did Chris ever do to you? Lighten up. It’s only a friggin game. You should be more pissed about all the chaos coming out of D.C. these days. Jus sayin.
When is Spo going to bring Johnson up to the big team so he can be evaluated as a possible rotation player? I can see Wiggins at SG and Johnson at SF. Heat can use the rebounding, inside scoring, field goal percentage and defense. Larsson has had a chance to play, why hasn’t Johnson? Dude hasn’t played since January 23rd and had a total of 11 minutes of garbage time in the last 5 games he did play. I think Miami has a diamond in the rough and doesn’t even know it. WTF?
spo doesnt like overly muscuular athletic brothers he prefers dunc pelle jjj jovic.just look at minutes played
Ware, Wiggins, Anderson, Rozier?