Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) drives the ball as Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black (0) defends in the first half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Jan. 28, 2026, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 133-124 loss to the Orlando Magic (24-22) on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center to kick off another back-to-back set. The Heat (25-23) now travels to face the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday to complete the back-to-back (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun):
After dropping its first three meeting with the Magic this regular season, the Heat lost to the Magic again on Wednesday. This time, a rough third quarter was to blame.
The Heat has faced third-quarter issues all season, entering with the NBA’s 25th-ranked net rating in the third quarter this season.
Those struggles continued on Wednesday. The Magic dominated the Heat in the third quarter to win the period 40-20, turning a nine-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Heat shot just 8 of 22 (34.8 percent) from the field and 2 of 8 (25 percent) from three-point range while committing seven turnovers in its dismal third quarter. Meanwhile, the Magic shot 15 of 29 (51.7 percent) from the field and 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) on threes while committing only one turnover in its impressive third quarter.
The Heat responded with a 16-8 run to begin the fourth quarter, trimming the deficit to three points with 8:27 to play.
But that’s the closest Miami would get, as the Magic closed the door on the Heat’s comeback attempt with 14 unanswered points to push its lead back up to 17 with 5:47 left.
The Heat made another late push in the final minutes, pulling within six points with 1:25 play. But the Magic stopped that Heat comeback attempt, too.
Along with finishing strong, the Magic also started Wednesday’s game fast.
Orlando pulled ahead by 13 points late in the first quarter. But the Heat outscored the Magic by 22 points during the rest of the first half to enter halftime with a nine-point advantage behind a 40-19 edge in points from three-point range and at the foul line.
The second half belonged to the Magic, though. Orlando outscored Miami 74-56 in the final two quarters.
The Heat’s defense struggled to contain the Magic’s offense all night, as Orlando closed with 62 paint points. The Magic also shot 50 percent from the field and 16 of 38 (42.1 percent) on threes.
It didn’t help that the Magic finished with 16 more field-goal attempts than the Heat in large part because of Miami’s turnover issues. The Heat committed 18 turnovers, while the Magic finished with just seven turnovers.
Paolo Banchero led the Magic with a game-high 31 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists.
The Magic also got 26 points from Anthony Black and 23 points from Desmond Bane.
For the Heat, Simone Fontecchio scored a team-high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
Bam Adebayo added 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Miami. Norman Powell contributed 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-7 shooting on threes.
Because the Heat also played the Magic as part of the NBA’s in-season tournament, Miami and Orlando will play each other five times this regular season instead of the usual four regular-season meetings. After the Magic won the first four matchups between the two teams, the Heat and Magic will face off for the fifth and final time this regular season on March 14 in Miami.
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis again started in place of the injured Davion Mitchell, but Jakucionis struggled in this one.
Jakucionis made his fourth straight start for Mitchell and the sixth start of his young NBA career on Wednesday. Jakucionis again started alongside Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo.
dJakucionus, 19, totaled only two points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field and 0-of-1 shooting on threes, two rebounds and one assist while committing two turnovers in 20 minutes.
After playing only 53.7 seconds in the NBA through the Heat’s first 26 games of the season, Jakucionis has now played in 21 of the Heat’s last 22 games in large part because of the team’s injury issues.
Mitchell, who has started in each of his 40 appearances this season, missed his fourth straight game and his sixth game in the last eight games on Wednesday because of a sprained left shoulder.
Mitchell initially suffered the shoulder injury while trying to run through a screen during the Heat’s Jan. 13 win over the Phoenix Suns. After hurting his shoulder on Jan. 13, Mitchell missed the next two games before returning to play in two games and then re-aggravating the injury during the Heat’s Jan. 20 win over the Sacramento Kings.
“We miss him, but we want to be smart about it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday of playing without Mitchell. “I think if he was just doing non-contact right now, he’d be fine. So we’re just going to continue to treat him, and then he’s doing more and more on the court. And when he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”
Along with missing Mitchell, the Heat was also without Vlad Goldin (G League), Tyler Herro (right costochondral injury to ribs), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) on Wednesday.
The Magic was without Colin Castleton (G League) and Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management) against the Heat.
Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware was back in uniform and available after missing the previous four games with a strained right hamstring. But Ware didn’t play much.
Ware, who is being used in the role of backup center, entered for his first action of the night with 7:36 left in Wednesday’s second quarter.
Ware didn’t play in the first quarter. Instead, forward Nikola Jovic was used as the backup center during Adebayo’s first rest of the night.
During Jovic’s early stint as the center, the Heat was outscored by two points in 2:40.
But Ware was subbed in when Adebayo went to the bench for his second rest of the night in the second quarter. That first stint lasted 4:25 for Ware.
Ware was also subbed in for a 2:15 minute stint in the third quarter before not playing in the fourth quarter.,
Ware, who entered averaging 23.8 minutes per game this season, played just 6:40 on Wednesday. He finished with four points, four rebounds and one block in his limited playing time.
Jovic and Ware were part of a Heat bench rotation on Wednesday that also included Jaime Jaquez Jr., Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio.
Fontecchio caught fire and turned in his best performance in a Heat uniform.
Fontecchio, who has now logged double-digit minutes in eight straight games after falling out of the Heat’s rotation for a few weeks, was one of the Heat’s best players on Wednesday.
Fontecchio finished with a season-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 6-of-9 shooting on threes and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line. The six three-point makes are a new career-high for Fontecchio.
Fontecchio did most of his scoring during a 17-point first half for the third-highest scoring half of his NBA career. He was on fire, hitting a 29-footer and even banking in a three-pointer Wednesday’s second quarter.
Fontecchio, who is on an expiring $8.3 million salary this season, was acquired from the Detroit Pistons this past offseason in the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade transaction.
The Heat has another busy week ahead.
After playing five games on the West Coast in a span of seven days last week, the Heat faces another grueling stretch this week.
Wednesday’s matchup against the Magic marked the start of a five-day stretch that includes four games for the Heat — Wednesday vs. Magic, Thursday at Bulls, Saturday vs. Bulls and Sunday vs. Bulls. It marks the only time this season that the Heat will play four games in five days.
Such stretches have previously been eliminated by the NBA, with the exception of extenuating circumstances. And these are extenuating circumstances, with a Jan. 8 game against the Bulls in Chicago rescheduled for Thursday.
“Just to focus on the game tonight,” Spoelstra said when asked how the team will approach this hectic segment of its schedule. “That’s it. I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. We’ll manage our energy the best that we can.”
That Jan. 8 game at United Center was postponed because of what the NBA labeled as “moisture on the floor rendering the court unplayable.” The contest was later rescheduled for Thursday.
With the Heat originally scheduled to host the Magic on Wednesday and then host the Bulls in Miami on Friday and Sunday, the NBA moved Friday’s matchup against the Bulls to Saturday to avoid having the Heat play on three straight nights since the adjusted schedule has the Heat taking on the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday following Wednesday’s game against the Magic in Miami.
Because the Heat already made its originally scheduled trip to Chicago in early January for a game that eventually postponed due to court conditions at United Center, a league source said the Heat does not need to foot the bill for this week’s trip to Chicago for Thursday’s rescheduled contest.
But after the schedule change, the Heat will play an NBA-high 17 back-to-backs this season.
In addition, the Heat needs to navigate the buzz and potential distractions that come with the approaching Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.
“We don’t really give it any time,” Spoelstra said of the impending trade deadline. “The veteran players understand that so much of it is just conjecture, that it’s just a bunch of [garbage]. But it is part of our business. That’s what we all sign up for. You have to be a professional all the way through.”