The Miami Heat’s new-look high-scoring offense was again on display on Sunday.
The Heat (11-6) also continued its winning ways, earning a 127-117 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers (9-7) on Sunday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena to extend its winning streak to four games.
The Heat, which entered Sunday with the NBA’s highest-scoring offense and playing at the league’s fastest pace this season, totaled 127 points and finished with a 26-15 edge in fast-break points.
The Heat led from start to finish, but the 76ers hung around for most of the game.
The Heat led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but the 76ers scored 16 unanswered points to tie the game midway through the second quarter. The Heat was able to regain its footing to enter halftime with a 71-67 advantage.
The Heat then scored the first nine points of the third quarter to push its lead up to 13.
After the Heat extended its lead to 14 with 6:30 left in the third quarter, the 76ers again had a strong response. Philadelphia closed the period on a 22-14 run to trim the deficit to six entering the fourth quarter.
But after the 76ers pulled within two points with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter, the Heat went on a 13-2 run to build its lead back up to 13 with 4:40 to play on the way to its sixth double-digit win of the season.
The Heat’s trio of Norman Powell (32 points), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (22 points) and Kel’el Ware (20 points) led the way, combining for 74 points on Sunday.
Bam Adebayo added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat.
The only 76ers player who hit the 20-point mark was guard Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 27 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-14 shooting on threes.
The Heat now returns home after sweeping its two-game trip to host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) to complete the back-to-back set.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the 76ers:
Both teams were short-handed, playing Sunday’s game without a chunk of their rotations.
The Heat remained without rotation players Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery), Nikola Jovic (right hip impingement) and Andrew Wiggins (left hip flexor strain) on Sunday.
Herro has yet to play this season, Jovic missed his third straight game and Wiggins missed his second straight game.
The Heat also was without Vlad Goldin (G League), Kasparas Jakucionis (G League) and Terry Rozier (not with team) in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, the 76ers held out star center Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) against the Heat. Philadelphia was also without rotation players Adem Bona (right ankle sprain), VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain) on Sunday.
Powell played on Sunday despite a hip issue, and he was effective.
After Powell briefly left Friday’s win over the Bulls in Chicago with what the Heat labeled as a left groin strain before returning to finish that game, he was listed as probable for Sunday’s game in Philadelphia with what the Heat then labeled as left hip irritation.
But Powell played and played well on Sunday, finishing with a game-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range.
Powell started fast, scoring 10 of the Heat’s first 16 points. He closed the first half with 23 points.
Powell went on to score nine points in the second half for his third 30-point performance of the young season.
Powell entered Sunday averaging a team-high 24.9 points per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 45.6 percent from three-point range in his first season with the Heat after landing with Miami in a trade this past offseason.
Powell also entered Sunday as one of just two players in the NBA averaging at least 24 points per game while shooting better than 45 percent from the field and better than 45 percent from three-point range this season. The other is Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Ware continued the best stretch of his young NBA career.
Ware entered Sunday’s contest in Philadelphia with a streak of grabbing double-digit rebounds in seven straight games.
Ware extended that streak to eight games on Sunday, and it didn’t take him long to do it.
Ware recorded a first-half double-double on Sunday, totaling 11 points and 10 rebounds (seven offensive rebounds) in 13 minutes during the first two quarters.
Ware finished Sunday’s victory with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, 16 rebounds, two steals and one block in 26 minutes. He also posted a game-best plus/minus of plus 26.
Ware, 21, has also recorded double-doubles in six of the eight games during this double-digit rebound streak.
After averaging 12 rebounds per 36 minutes as a rookie last season, Ware entered Sunday averaging the second-most rebounds per 36 minutes in the league among NBA players who have played in at least 10 games this season at 15.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. The only qualifying player averaging more rebounds per 36 minutes than Ware this season is Houston’s Clint Capela.
There have been ups and downs for Ware throughout his first two NBA seasons, but this has been the most consistently impactful stretch of his NBA career.
Heat guard Davion Mitchell’s efficient play-making has been a revelation this season.
Mitchell entered Sunday among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio with an impressive 4.64 mark, well above his career-best assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.12 that he set with the Sacramento Kings during the 2023-24 season.
Mitchell continued to show off his improved play-making skills in Sunday’s win, finishing with 12 assists to just one turnover,
Mitchell started racking up the assists early, recording six assists without committing a turnover in the first quarter.
Mitchell also scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds on Sunday while spending most of the game defending Maxey.
The Heat is right back at it on Monday in Miami, and could be getting a big boost in the form of a Herro return.
The Heat hosts the Mavericks on Monday night to complete its third back-to-back set of the season and a challenging stretch of three games in four days. The Heat is 2-0 so far this season on the back end of back-to-backs.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks were off Sunday and enter Monday’s game in Miami with a 5-13 record.
The Heat could be getting Herro back on Monday against the Mavericks.
The hope is that Herro, who was the Heat’s lone All-Star and the Heat’s leading scorer this season, will be able to make his season debut on Monday, according to a league source. He has missed the Heat’s first 17 games this season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in September.