Miami Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo (13), guard Davion Mitchell (45), guard Tyler Herro (14), and guard Norman Powell (24) walk together on the court during their NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Kaseya Center on November 26, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
The Miami Heat’s revamped offense continues to be a revelation early this season.
After finishing as the 24th-ranked scoring team (110.6 points per game) and 27th-ranked pace team (97.1 possessions per 48 minutes) last season, the Heat enters Wednesday night’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks ranked second in scoring (124.3 points per game) and first in pace (106.1 possessions per 48 minutes) this season.
The Heat has already scored 140 or more points in five games this season, which is a franchise record for a single season. It’s also the most games that a team has hit the 140-point mark in the NBA so far this season, with no other team in the league reaching that scoring threshold in more than two games this season.
“We have a team and a system that we’ve obviously taken a long summer to build this,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “But then you look at the past two years and [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] just scrapped the book. It was like, this is how we’re going to play, we’re going to play totally different. We want to play fast. We want to play with pace. And we built a team that could sustain that.”
But the offense the Heat is running to produce these results has also generated buzz around the league. Miami is using a free-flowing, motion-based offense that doesn’t involve as many screens or handoffs as other offensive schemes.
After using 68.9 screens per 100 possessions (ninth most in the NBA) and 22.3 handoffs per 100 possessions (16th most in the NBA) last season, the Heat has used just 14.7 screens per 100 possessions (fewest in the NBA) and six handoffs per 100 possessions (fewest in the NBA) through its first 21 games this season, according to Genius Sports.
“It takes awhile for you to kind of get adjusted to it,” former Heat star and current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said of the Heat’s new offense during a recent episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast. “And right now with Miami doing it, and we played Miami this year, and I got to see it firsthand of how fast they’re playing and the pick-and-roll-less style of basketball that they’re playing. To try to scout that for one game, or they come into your building, you’ve got one game to scout for, maybe not even a full day you’ve got to scout for. It’s hard to catch up to. And I think it’s working in their favor.”
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) and guard Norman Powell (24) celebrate after scoring against the Golden State Warriors in the second half of their NBA game at Kaseya Center on Nov. 19, 2025, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
To help install this new offense, the Heat brought on Noah LaRoche as a consultant after he spent last season as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies before being fired in March when the organization parted ways with then-Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and a few assistants. During his short stint with the Grizzlies, LaRoche was credited with helping to install this free-flowing offense that doesn’t rely on screens or handoffs to create advantages.
For the Heat, this new-look offense has also featured a balanced attack. Eight players on Miami’s roster enter Wednesday averaging double-digit points this season — Norman Powell (25 points per game), Tyler Herro (24.8), Adebayo (19.4), Andrew Wiggins (17.5), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (15.6), Kel’el Ware (11.8), Simone Fontecchio (10.2) and Davion Mitchell (10).
“Bam has had a few games where he’s had multiple three-pointers made, and that is helping them as well,” James continued on the Heat’s offense. “They don’t have to have anybody in the paint. And when you have a lob threat like the kid Ware, you’ve got the other guys. You’ve got Jaime Jaquez, who’s very fast with the ball. Wiggins, very good downhill. Davion Mitchell, very good downhill. Norman Powell, very good downhill. It fits their demographic. It fits their personnel.”
As a result, the Heat enters Wednesday with the NBA’s 11th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 116.5 points per 100 possessions) after finishing with one of the league’s 10 worst offensive ratings in each of the last three seasons.
“That’s why Spo literally is one of the greatest coaches, will be one of the greatest coaches ever,” said James, who won two NBA championships while playing for Spoelstra and the Heat from 2010 to 2014. “Because he can continue to have a growth mind-set and continue to change offensive things to fit his scheme and fit his personnel.”
Among the questions still surrounding this new-look Heat offense is whether more pick-and-rolls will be used now that Herro is back from offseason ankle surgery.
Herro, who made his season debut last week after missing the Heat’s first 17 games, used the most pick-and-rolls among Heat players last season and returned to a team running the fewest pick-and-rolls in the league this season. But James wouldn’t change much even after Herro’s return, and the numbers show that the Heat has actually used fewer screens since Herro re-entered the mix last week.
“If they’re scoring the ball at a huge rate, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” James said on his podcast. “With Tyler Herro’s ability to shoot the ball, his ability to play off close-outs, his ability to handle the ball, I don’t see him not being able to fit into exactly what they’re already doing. And Spo is smart enough and the coaching staff is smart enough to know if there are dead ball situations [out of a timeout] and he wants to get to a little rub action with him and Bam and create that two-on-one because Bam is very good in the two-on-one game, he can always get to that. That’s something he knows he has in his back pocket, but let’s continue to build this system of how we want to play. And then we can have this in the back pocket if we need it.”
NBA DEBUT
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis made his NBA regular-season debut late in Monday’s blowout home win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
While Jakucionis played just the final 53.7 seconds of the lopsided victory, he still labeled it as a meaningful moment after being sidelined for most of the preseason and the start of the regular season with injuries.
“It means a lot, but also like I don’t really take it too serious,” said Jakucionis, who was taken by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft. “It’s a good beginning. But I have way bigger goals than just stepping on the court. So I’m just trying to work every day and be patient, and now just try to focus on daily work.”