Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 115-105 win over the Houston Rockets (37-22) on Saturday afternoon at Kaseya Center to snap a two-game skid and open a three-game homestand. Next up for the Heat (32-29) is a two-day break before hosting the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday:
After a frustrating winless two-game trip, the Heat returned home and earned its first victory over a winning team currently in over a month.
The Heat survived 14 lead changes to defeat a Rockets team that entered with the third-best record in the Western Conference. It marked Miami’s first victory over a team currently with a winning record since defeating the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 25.
Both teams led by double digits at one point in a back-and-forth first half, with the Rockets opening the game on a 14-4 run and the Heat responding to pull ahead by as many as 13 points in the second quarter.
At halftime, the Rockets held a narrow 52-51 lead.
The back-and-forth play continued in an ultra-competitive third quarter that included nine lead changes, with the Heat taking a one-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
But after the Rockets cut the Heat’s lead to one with 7:21 to play, the Heat went on a run to take control. Miami built some separation with a 7-0 run to pull ahead by eight points with 6:01 left.
The Rockets kept pushing, pulling within three points with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Heat finally put the Rockets away, responding by scoring nine answered points to extend its lead to 12 points with 37 seconds to play.
One of the biggest plays of this late-game spurt came when Andrew Wiggins made a layup while being fouled, making the free throw to complete the clutch three-point play and push the Heat’s lead from five to eight points with 2:24 left.
Heat guard Pelle Larsson was big part of the strong finish, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting on threes, to go with 11 rebounds, one steal and one block in 35 minutes.
Seven Heat players finished with double-digit points as part of a balanced attack.
Kevin Durant led the Rockets with a game-high 32 points.
It was a chippy and physical game between the Heat and Rockets. There were double technicals called on Heat guard Tyler Herro and Durant in the first quarter after the two exchanged some heated words, and there was also an elbow from Rockets center Alperen Sengun that left Wiggins needing eight stitches to close a laceration in his mouth.
The Heat began life without its leading scorer on Saturday.
Powell left Thursday’s road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers early because of a lingering groin injury. An MRI on Friday revealed a Grade 1 strain for Powell, which is considered a mild strain.
The Heat is labeling Powell as week to week. If Powell is forced to miss at least one week, he will be out for a minimum of four games — Saturday vs. Rockets, Tuesday vs. Nets, Thursday vs. Nets and Friday at Charlotte Hornets.
“I feel for Norm because he wants to be out there for all the games, especially these moments right now,” Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game. “But we’ll treat him and we’ll see where he is after the week.”
Saturday marked the 12th game that Powell has missed this season, and five of those absences have come due to groin issues. He missed three straight games from late October to early November because of a strained right groin, one game in late November because of a strained left groin and one game because of this latest strained right groin.
Powell, 32, is averaging a team-high and career-high 22.5 points per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range in his first season with the Heat.
Along with missing Powell, the Heat was without Nikola Jovic (lower back injury management) and Terry Rozier (not with team) on Saturday.
The Rockets were missing Steven Adams (left ankle surgery), Tristen Newton (G League), Jabari Smith Jr. (right ankle sprain), Jae’Sean Tate (right knee sprain) and Fred VanVleet (right knee ACL repair) against the Heat.
With Powell sidelined, Herro returned to the Heat’s starting lineup in his place.
After playing as a reserve in his first four games back from a rib injury, Powell’s absence led to Herro being plugged back into the Heat’s starting lineup in his fifth game back.
Herro started Saturday’s contest alongside Davion Mitchell, Larsson, Wiggins and Adebayo. It marked the third game that the Heat has used this starting group this season.
Herro finished his first start in over a month with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, two rebounds and three assists.
This starting role is nothing new for Herro, who has been primarily used as a starter since the start of the 2022-23 season. In fact, even including the previous four games as a reserve, Herro has only played off the bench in seven games since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Spoelstra has gone away from the double-big look of Adebayo and Ware recently, but he turned back to the intriguing combination for extended minutes on Saturday.
The Adebayo-Ware lineups impressed just before the All-Star break, as the Heat outscored opponents by 68 points in the 42 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together in the three games before the break. This was noteworthy, considering the Heat had been outscored by 7.5 points per 100 possessions in the 266 minutes that the 6-foot-9 Adebayo and 7-foot Ware had played together this season prior to this three-game stretch.
But the Heat has since gone away from the double-big look, as Adebayo and Ware logged just three minutes together over the first four games after the break.
The Heat went back to the Adebayo-Ware combo on Saturday, though, and the results were impressive. The Heat outscored the rockets by 21 points in the 16 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together.
The Heat even closed Saturday’s game with Adebayo and Ware on the court together. With Adebayo and Ware playing the final 7:54 of the fourth quarter together, the Heat turned a three-point lead into a 10-point win.
Ware closed Saturday’s win with 13 points, 15 rebounds and one block in 29 minutes.
Next up for the Heat is a two-day break that includes its annual Family Festival event.
The Heat will host its 26th annual Family Festival on Sunday afternoon at Kaseya Center.
The block-party–style event supports the Miami Heat Charitable Fund and provides fans the chance to meet Heat players, coaches, and their families. The event will feature auction items, photo opportunities, meet-and-greets and live entertainment. Attendees can also enjoy free food from over 40 South Florida restaurants.
Following Family Festival, the Heat has two consecutive home games against a struggling Nets team that has dropped seven straight games. The Heat hosts the Nets, which entered Saturday with the NBA’s third-worst record, on Tuesday and Thursday.
While the Heat has struggled against quality competition this season, it has had success against inferior opponents like the Nets. The Heat is 21-8 this season against teams that entered Saturday with a losing record.