Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat talks with referee Tre Maddox #23 in the first half of a Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals game against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on December 09, 2025 in Orlando. Julio Aguilar Getty Images
Tuesday’s loss in Orlando stung a little more for the Miami Heat than the usual December loss during a long 82-game regular season.
Not only did Tuesday night’s 117-108 loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center mark the Heat’s fourth straight loss and fifth loss in the past six games, but it also ended the Heat’s NBA Cup run before it could advance to the in-season tournament’s final four in Las Vegas.
“It’s high,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the team’s disappointment level after losing in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. “We have a very competitive group. There was something to really play for right now. We had all wrapped our minds around it. We’re all still kind of shocked about it. It’s two competitive franchises going at it. Both teams really wanted it. It felt like a playoff-type feel to it. And we just weren’t able to get the job done.”
Instead, the Magic will be in Las Vegas to take on the New York Knicks at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday in the NBA Cup semifinal and took the monetary reward that comes with it.
Magic players made an additional $53,094 with Tuesday’s win, and Heat players missed out on at least an additional $53,094. While every player on a standard deal on the eight NBA teams that advanced to the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament already earned $53,093 for making the knockout rounds, that reward increases to $106,187 for each standard contract player on the four teams that made it to Saturday’s semifinals in Las Vegas, $212,373 for each standard contract player on the two teams that make it to Tuesday’s championship game in Las Vegas, and $530,933 for the standard contract players on the NBA Cup champion.
“When you got a chance to win some type of championship, experience something that is new that you haven’t experienced before, you really want to try and get there,” Heat guard Norman Powell said. “Not just myself, but the team as a whole. It definitely hurts when you fall short.”
Heat captain and center Bam Adebayo added: “We had an opportunity to really do something we haven’t done before and we let it slip away. I mean, obviously four straight losses, nobody wants to be on that type of losing streak. I feel like we’re a better team than that.”
Desmond Bane #3 of the Orlando Magic draws a foul from Norman Powell #24 of the Miami Heat in the second half of a Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals game at Kia Center on December 09, 2025 in Orlando. Julio Aguilar Getty Images
Now, the Heat (14-11) enters a rare break in the middle of the busy NBA regular season. As the rest of the in-season tournament plays out, the Heat has just one game during an eight-day span.
That’s because after the Heat lost to the Magic and the Toronto Raptors lost to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Tuesday, the game added to Miami and Toronto’s schedules to complete their 82-game regular-season slate is a Monday matchup between the Heat and Raptors at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
This gives the Heat five days off, and plenty of time to practice and work through the issues it’s facing right now on both ends of the court before resuming its schedule on Monday against the Raptors in Miami.
“There’s always a silver lining,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat taking Wednesday and Thursday off before returning to practice on Friday. “We’ll be able to get a couple of days of just rest, which I think our group needs that right now. But then we can also get some practice time before we play Monday.
Then after Monday’s game against the Raptors in Miami, the Heat has another two idle days before continuing the rest of its schedule on Dec. 18 against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center to begin a three-game trip that also includes matchups against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Dec. 19 and the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 21.
“Rest our bodies, rest our minds,” Powell said of how this downtime in the middle of the NBA season could help, “and then get back to it and see how we can continue to get better and hopefully go on a four or five-game win streak like we had earlier in the season.”
The Heat has plenty to figure out during this in-season break, as it has posted the league’s 29th-ranked offensive rating and 17th-ranked defensive rating during its current four-game skid.
The Heat, which is playing at the fastest pace this season at 105.3 possessions per 48 minutes, has also slowed to 101.1 possessions per 48 minutes over the last four games. Five of Miami’s six slowest-paced games this season have come in the last eight games.
Whether the Heat’s recent struggles are due to reintegrating a high-usage player like Tyler Herro on the fly after he missed the first 17 games of the regular season because of offseason left ankle surgery or teams have just adjusted to the Heat’s revamped uptempo style, Spoelstra and the coaching staff will spend the rest of the week searching for solutions before the schedule resumes on Monday.
“Really important,” Adebayo said of making this a productive in-season break. “Obviously, you get guys back, things are going to change, it’s going to shift. But we’re adults in here. We got to figure out how we can make this work.”
Pelle Larsson #9 of the Miami Heat holds his ankle after an injury in the first half of a Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals game against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on December 09, 2025 in Orlando. Julio Aguilar Getty Images
LARSSON’S MRI
An MRI on Heat guard Pelle Larsson’s injured left ankle revealed a sprain and nothing more serious on Wednesday.
The Heat expects Larsson to miss one to two weeks with the injury, but how his ankle responds to treatment will determine how long he’s sidelined.
Larsson sprained his left ankle in the second quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Magic, exiting the contest with 4:21 left in the first half and not returning.
Larsson, 24, has become a fixture in the Heat’s rotation this season. He has played in each of the 24 games he has been available for in his second NBA season.