Unfortunately, the Miami Heat aren’t one of the four teams playing on opening night of the NBA campaign on Tuesday, but the start of their 2025-26 regular season is imminent.
Miami will open its season on Wednesday, and it’s fitting that its first game of the campaign is against the only other NBA team based in the state of Florida — the Orlando Magic.
With Heat star Tyler Herro set to miss their season-opener as he recovers from foot surgery, the odds aren’t in their favor to come out on top, but that doesn’t mean a road win isn’t feasible. Let’s break down three things the Heat need to do in order to pull off an upset over a Magic team that could contend in a weakened Eastern Conference this season.
1. Have Norman Powell serve as their primary scoring option
Miami doesn’t have any one player who quite brings to the table what Herro does from a scoring standpoint. He’s a special scoring talent, but if anyone comes close, it’s Powell.
Powell has come into his own as a scorer in recent years, and he just recently averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game for a 50-win Los Angeles Clippers team last season. Like Herro, he’s highly effective at scoring the ball both inside and outside the 3-point line and has experience as a high-volume scorer.
Sans Herro, Powell stands out as Miami’s best pure scorer by a decent margin, and the team needs to ride his scoring chops to a victory.
It would be in the Heat’s best interest to have him be their primary scoring option on Wednesday, and he should take anywhere between 18 and 22 shots.
2. Keep Desmond Bane in check
Bane was far and away Orlando’s most notable offseason acquisition, and he will likely be motivated to show out in his debut with the team. He can put up points in a hurry with his ability to shoot the ball from 3-point range, and if he has a notable Magic debut, the Heat will likely be in for a long night.
Miami ultimately needs to hold Bane to fewer than 20 points on Wednesday, and that’s easier in theory than in practice, considering he’s averaged 21.1 points per game in his last three NBA campaigns.
The key to containing Bane will be to get in his airspace and not allow him room to get 3s off, and the Heat fortunately have a strong wing defender they can throw at him. Andrew Wiggins is someone who can make life difficult for Bane with his length and defensive smarts.
3. Crash the offensive glass
Orlando was one of the worst teams in all of basketball last season when it came to finishing off defensive possessions with defensive rebounds. The Magic were 28th in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game (30.7) in the 2024-25 season.
No offseason acquisition hints that the Magic will be any better at grabbing defensive boards this season, and Miami has to take advantage of their struggles on the glass.
A few offensive rebounds from Bam Adebayo and a couple more from young big man Kel’el Ware could prove to be vitally important to the final outcome of the contest. It could be the difference between a win and a loss in a close game.
Ultimately, a strong scoring showing from Powell, a quiet Magic debut for Bane and some success on the offensive glass all make for a good recipe for the Heat to overcome the odds on Wednesday.