Category: NBA

MIAMI — Two days after issuing a harsh rebuke to the approach of second-year center Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra walked back some of those comments prior to Saturday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Kaseya Center. “I didn’t articulate that in a great way, and that wasn’t fair to Kel’el,” Spoelstra said. “What I’ll say is I’m fully invested and invigorated about the opportunity to develop Kel’el, and our staff feels the same way and we’re gonna give him everything we have to make sure he becomes the player that he wants to become, that we need him to...

The end came as expected, the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back set running out of gas in Sunday night’s 124-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center. Against the team with the best record in the league, it’s not as if even the best of Heat nights might have been enough against the rested defending NBA champions. But it was the cumulative of the weeklong trip that has the Heat teetering, the record down to 20-19, after yet another inability to sustain. In the end, a week that wasn’t. First, the 122-94 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, when coach Erik Spoelstra...

INDIANAPOLIS – In theory, this should have been the best version of the Miami Heat. It was anything but. With Erik Spoelstra’s primary rotation whole for just the fourth time this season, what set up as a welcomed reunion became anything but. Instead, a 123-99 loss Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to the NBA-worst Indiana Pacers. With Spoelstra moving to a starting lineup seemingly as talented as any started by the team this season, the response was an early 25-point deficit and a rally that fell short to the degree that the bench was emptied with eight minutes remaining and the Heat...

CHICAGO – Thursday night’s game between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls was postponed nearly two hours after the scheduled tipoff, after an extended delay due to 50-degree temperatures, heavy rain and the ice below the court at the United Center that left the playing surface too slick for play. A makeup date was not immediately announced. This was to be the Heat’s final visit of the season. The game, scheduled for an 8 p.m. Eastern start, featured the typical pregame warmup scheduling. But as players went through warmups, several players identified slick spots due to condensation. A...

MIAMI — Having previously lost to the second to the second-worst team in the Western Conference, the Miami Heat made sure there was no misstep Sunday night at Kaseya Center against the West’s worst. More to the point, Norman Powell made sure. So, no, no repeat of the home humiliation against the Sacramento Kings, instead a 125-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that made it five victories in the last six for Erik Spoelstra’s team. “We definitely had to come out and set the tone,” Powell said. With Powell converting 9 of 12 3-point attempts on a 34-point night, the Heat improved to...

MIAMI — The Minnesota Timberwolves showed the value of scoring in triplicate Saturday night at Kaseya Center, volume the shorthanded Miami Heat simply could not overcome. So so much for the four-game winning streak, with instead a 125-115 loss for Erik Spoelstra’s team, on a night the Heat began in the injury absence of Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson, one that continued with the Heat then losing Jaime Jaquez Jr. for the night in the first half with an ankle sprain. Against some opponents, there still might have been enough to persevere. Against these Timberwolves on this night, not. Not with...

As he exited Kaseya Center on Monday night, Bam Adebayo said there is no better way to end a year than with a win. Apparently, the Miami Heat believe there is no better way to also start the year. So make it a four-game winning streak, this time with a 118-112 New Year’s victory Thursday night over the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Against the best team in the Eastern Conference, an opponent that had lost only twice previously at home this season, the Heat got off to the races with their running game and opened their 2026 schedule with arguably their most impressive victory over...