Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks on as his team plays against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in downtown Miami, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
After losing four straight games and dropping five of its last six games, the Miami Heat has a lot to work on. The Heat also now has a lot of time to work on those things before resuming its schedule.
Following Tuesday’s loss to the Magic in Orlando in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, the Heat (14-11) has five idle days before its next game on Monday against the Toronto Raptors. In fact, the Heat is in the middle of an eight-day stretch that includes just one game as the rest of the league’s in-season tournament plays out.
“We want to take advantage of any kind of practice time we can get,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the team took Wednesday and Thursday off before returning to practice on Friday. “I mean, obviously we would rather be playing right now, but you will find the next thing that will move your team forward. And that’s the rest that we had the last two days, and take advantage of this time together on the practice court.”
The Heat also practiced on Saturday at Kaseya Center, looking to get back to the things that were working during its strong 14-7 start to the season. And the Heat will practice again for a third straight day on Sunday.
“The timing of these practices have been good,” Spoelstra said. “Last year when we got knocked out of the Cup earlier, we had these practices earlier and that was a little bit awkward. But we all felt, staff and players alike, that we could use some practice time working on some things.”
At the 21-game mark, the Heat was 14-7 and owned the NBA’s 11th-best offensive rating (scoring 116.5 points per 100 possessions) and fourth-best defensive rating (allowing 111.2 points per 100 possessions) for the season.
Since then, the Heat has posted the league’s 29th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 106.4 points per 100 possessions) and 17th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 116.1 points per 100 possessions) during its current four-game losing skid.
“We’re working on getting to our strengths offensively, getting to it more consistently,” Spoelstra said. “But as you can imagine, we also are drilling our defense and making sure that that’s consistent to our best version regardless of what’s happening offensively, whether we’re making shots or not.”
But Heat coaches and players aren’t panicked by this recent regression. Instead, the focus is on just taking steps forward during this time off.
“Look, we don’t like losing. We have a very competitive group in the locker room,” Spoelstra added. “We’re just focused on getting better, not getting caught up in all the panic and narratives that potentially can be out there. Just have to rally around each other.”
During the ebbs and flows of a long 82-game season, rough patches like this are going to happen. The Heat just doesn’t want this stretch to last any longer than it already has.
“It’s a competitive league,” Spoelstra said. “There’s so much parity right now. You have to play well, and then you have to find different ways to win games. There’s going to be a lot of teams that go through what we’re going through right now. You can’t panic to all the noise. You just have to focus on how do we get better.”
GOOD WORK
Carnival Cruise Line, the Heat and Direct Relief will coordinate the loading of 24 pallets of critical medical supplies onto the Carnival Horizon at PortMiami on Sunday. The relief cargo on the ship will arrive in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on Thursday as part of Hurricane Melissa recovery efforts.
“This is made possible through the ongoing support of the Micky & Madeleine Arison Family Foundation, Carnival Corporation, and the Miami Heat, ensuring Direct Relief can quickly deliver essential medical supplies to Jamaica,” according to a press release issued by the Heat. “To join in making a donation to support Direct Relief’s efforts, please visit DirectRelief.org/SupportJamaica.”