Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat reacts in the first half of the game against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on October 22, 2025 in Orlando. Julio Aguilar Getty Images
So much was different about the Miami Heat in Wednesday’s season opener, but unfortunately so much was also the same.
The Heat’s new-look up-tempo offense was on display in the first game of the regular season. After finishing as one of the five slowest-paced teams in the NBA in each of the past six regular seasons, the suddenly speedy Heat played at a pace of 111.5 possessions per 48 minutes in the opener for a pace that would have ranked as the fastest in the NBA last season.
“We played a completely different style of basketball, and you all see that,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “We get up the floor and we play together basketball, and we swing the ball and drive it, and everybody is involved.
“Get stops and run. Make it tough on them, overcommunicate on the defensive end. When we get that ball, everybody, all five players run. And we go from there.”
But unfortunately for the Heat, last season’s late-game issues were again a problem in Wednesday night’s season-opening 125-121 loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center. After blowing an NBA-high 21 fourth-quarter leads in losses last regular season, the Heat began this season by wasting another fourth-quarter lead.
The Heat lost in Orlando on Wednesday despite leading the Magic by eight points with 7:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Heat’s offense, which was encouraging for most of the night, hit a scoring drought at the wrong time. After taking a 109-101 lead with 7:49 to play, Miami scored just 12 points the rest of the way on 3-of-13 (23.1%) shooting from the field and 1-of-6 (16.7%) shooting on threes during this game-deciding stretch.
“It naturally slows down a little bit in the fourth quarter, but I think that’s going to continue to get better. I do,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the team’s fourth-quarter challenges, as the Heat now moves on to face the Grizzlies in Memphis on Friday (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) before returning to Miami for Sunday’s home opener against the New York Knicks. “Guys are getting more comfortable. We haven’t had a game where we’ve been able to consistently do it yet, but that’s on its way. Through three quarters, we put up a good amount of points, and we’re doing it in a little bit easier way than we have.”
But along with all the missed shots down the stretch on Wednesday, the Heat also had some costly turnovers and rebounding miscues.
Miami committed seven turnovers during the final 8:58 of the game that the Magic capitalized on for 10 critical points. Among the most costly Heat turnovers was a five-second violation on an inbounds pass that was called with the Magic ahead by two points and 3:45 left in the fourth quarter.
While playing a smaller closing lineup that featured a frontcourt of Bam Adebayo (6-9) and Jaime Jaquez Jr (6-6)., the Magic came away with nine second-chance points on five important offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter to spark its late-game comeback.
“Just take our time,” Adebayo said of what the Heat needs to do to be better late in close games. “I feel like a lot of times when the game gets intense, we tend to rush and want to score so bad or make the right play that we forget the most important thing is the basketball.”
One of the Heat’s issues was not getting Adebayo going down the stretch. He was held scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting from the field in Wednesday’s fourth quarter.
Norman Powell #24, Davion Mitchell #45, Jaime Jaquez Jr. #11, Bam Adebayo #13 and Nikola Jovic #5 of the Miami Heat walk back to the bench during a time in the first half of the game against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on October 22, 2025 in Orlando. Julio Aguilar Getty Images
But still, Spoelstra came away encouraged by what the Heat showed in the first 40 minutes of the game against a quality Magic team before wilting in the final eight minutes of the season-opening loss.
“Guys are gaining confidence, the ball was moving great,” Spoelstra said. “Even there at the end, though, we got some great looks. This whole thing could look different if two or three of those threes went down. Those were good looks. ... So it’s not just the offensive rebounds at the end. It could have been a few other things like it always can be at the end of a close game.”
Because as rough as the ending was for the Heat, there were plenty of positives in Wednesday’s defeat.
The Heat’s offense actually looked fast and different after finishing each of the last three regular seasons with a bottom-10 offensive rating. There were less pick-and-rolls and handoffs, and more attacks with 56 drives to the basket on Wednesday — up from last regular season’s average of 50.1 drives per game.
Guard Norman Powell played well in his Heat regular-season debut, finishing with a game-high 28 points on 19 field-goal attempts.
Guard Davion Mitchell also impressed with 16 points, six rebounds and 12 assists to just one turnover in Orlando. Mitchell’s 12 assists on Wednesday tied a franchise record for the most assists by a Heat player on opening night, matching the 12 assists that Tim Hardaway had on Nov. 1, 1996.
Jaquez started his third NBA season strong after a rough second season in the league, finishing Wednesday’s loss with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, six rebounds, one assist and two steals in 30 minutes off the Heat’s bench.
And the expectation is guard Tyler Herro’s eventual return from injury will provide another boost to the Heat’s revamped offense. Herro is expected to miss at least the first month of the regular season after undergoing ankle surgery last month.
Veteran guard Terry Rozier was the only Heat veteran who didn’t play in the opener despite being in uniform and available. Rozier was then arrested at the team’s Orlando hotel early Thursday morning as part of a multiyear federal gambling investigation.
“I’m encouraged by more things than not from this game, and I’m not looking for moral victories,” Spoelstra said late Wednesday night prior to Rozier’s arrest. “I’m not talking about that at all. But there’s definitely things that we can build on and have a game that can win on the road.”
But the bottom line is the Heat is 0-1 this season because it’s 0-1 in clutch games (one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter) this season after finishing last regular season with a dismal 14-28 record in clutch games.
The Heat won’t truly take a step forward after back-to-back first-round playoff exits until it fixes its late-game problems.
“We’ll just gather ourselves, get to Memphis,” Spoelstra said, looking ahead at Friday’s game at FedExForum. “And I don’t want to take too much of a moral victory on this. I just see a blueprint for us, and I think there are some things that are going to get better and better as we spend more time with each other. But the bottom line is, you’ve got to find a way to get a win. And that’s what we’ll focus on going into Memphis.”