Heat beats Wizards as Adebayo sets franchise record. Five takeaways and a Ware knee update
Five takeaways from the short-handed Heat’s 106-90 victory over the woeful Washington Wizards on Monday night at Kaseya Center:
▪ Playing without five injured rotation players and with just nine players available overall, the Heat maintained control throughout on a night that Bam Adebayo set the franchise record for career double doubles.
With injuries depleting Miami more than at any time all season, Erik Spoelstra used a starting quintet that hadn’t played a single minute together — Adebayo, Kevin Love, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier and Alec Burks.
The other four players available also played and were helpful: Kyle Anderson, Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson and Pelle Larsson.
Miami led by eight after one, by 19 at the half and by 13 after three and never trailed in the final 40 minutes of the game, despite playing without center Kel El’Ware (sprained left knee), forward Andrew Wiggins (sprained ankle), forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (sprained ankle) and guard Davion Mitchell (quadriceps contusion).
In the second half, Washington drew no closer than eight, on two occasions in the third quarter. But the Heat took control in the fourth, leading by as many as 26.
“This is a resilient group,” Spoelstra said of his team rebounding after a painful overtime loss. “Less than 24 hours, have to get out there again with more guys out. There’s great competitive character with this group. We brought the appropriate disposition and urgency.”
Adebayo - who recorded his Heat-record 222nd double double - finished with 19 points (7 for 16 shooting) to go along with 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 31 minutes.
Herro added 16 points on 6 for 10 shooting, including three-pointers twice in the third quarter after Washington pulled to within nine. Needed for just 26 minutes, he added six assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal.
Larsson, the rookie second round pick, set a career high with 16 points, to go with four rebounds and five assists in 27 minutes.
“He brought that energy and extra oomph that carried over to everybody else,” Spoelstra said. “At key moments, he had his imprint, the deflections, the timely cuts. He has bottled up energy. He wants to be out there. He feels he can help. It’s inspiring.”
Robinson chipped in 17 points, shooting 7 for 13 from the field and 3 for 7 on threes. This has been a very good stretch for Robinson, who entered having hit 12 of his last 25 three-point attempts.
Contributions came from everyone and everywhere. Love had nine rebounds in 12 minutes. Burks added nine points, hitting three of seven three-pointers. Rozier had 15 points, five assists and five boards.
Anderson had five assists, three steals and two blocks and made key plays on the two occasions when Washington closed to within eight – first on a nifty pass to Larsson for a layup, and then a three-pointer late in the third.
The Heat generally had its way against a Washington team that entered allowing a brutal 118 points per 100 possessions, tied with Utah and New Orleans for the league’s worst defensive rating.
Miami -- which shot 48 percent from the field -- shook off Sunday’s 116-112 overtime loss to the Knicks and finished the homestand at 3-1. The Heat (29-31) remained seventh in the East, one game ahead of No. 8 Orlando (29-33).
Washington, which played without leading scorer Jordan Poole, shot just 37 percent from the field (including 10 for 35 on threes) and fell to 11-49.
▪ With the Heat’s first ever draft pick Rony Seikaly in attendance, Adebayo broke Seikaly’s franchise record for career double doubles with his 222nd. And he did it during a 12-point, 10-rebound first half.
Having already scored 12 points, Adebayo reached double figures in rebounds by snagging his 10th board off the defensive glass with 44 seconds left in the first half. Seikaly was appearing on FanDuel Sports Sun’s telecast at the moment that Adebayo broke his record.
“I couldn’t be happier passing the torch to someone who works as hard as he does,” Seikaly said.
Seikaly set the record in 439 games in a Heat jersey; Adebayo established the new mark in his 547th game.
“I’m so glad to get that record out of the way,” Adebayo said. “I’ve been trying to break that record for three games. It was a special moment because [Seikaly] was here and was on broadcast what I did it. When I got here, I wanted to mark my name in history, whatever that may be. To be able to be a franchise leader in something, I’m blessed to have that.”
Spoelstra said: “It was really cool to see Seikaly here... Rony was a glass eating center. He keeps on checking off these records and honoring guys he’s passing. It was a special moment. The team acknowledged it.”
Seikaly, who last played for the Heat in the 1993-94 season, and Adebayo recently met at Kaseya Center, a visit set up by Heat television announcer Eric Reid.
That meeting “was amazing to me,” Seikaly said before Monday’s game. “I watched him play in the Olympics this summer. I admired the hustle and grit and everything he brings to the game. Meeting him in person, he’s a lot bigger than I thought. I haven’t been around tall people in a while. Great character, very humble. He’s real.”
Afterward, Udonis Haslem called Adebayo about breaking the record and Adebayo put the end of their FaceTime call on speaker phone before beginning his postgame news conference.
Adebayo is second behind Haslem on the team’s all-time rebound list, and Haslem cracked that he doesn’t want Adebayo to break that record. ”I love him... but I don’t love him that much,” Haslem said.
▪ Love made an immediate impact despite barely playing in recent weeks.
He snagged seven rebounds in the first seven minutes and banked in a hook shot, en route to closing with two points and nine boards.
Love was a DNP-CD (did not play/coach’s decision) in 22 of the past 26 games that he suited up. During that stretch, he was away from the team for five games due to personal reasons.
Love entered Monday having played just 24 minutes since Jan. 1. He logged 12 minutes on Monday.
“Kevin has kept himself ready, and his skill set is always there, rebounding, passing out of those rebounds [and] we actually need that tonight,” Spoelstra said before the game.
Love, 36, said he’s in a different place than two years ago, when he asked for a buyout after he fell out of Cleveland’s rotation. Love, who then signed with the Heat, said he wasn’t ready to give up regular playing time at that point earlier in his career.
▪ Ware said the knee injury that sidelined him on Monday isn’t serious.
The rookie center suffered a sprained left knee when he collided with Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss. He returned for the overtime.
Ware said an MRI showed no structural damage – “everything was good” - and he expects to be ready to play within days.
“We will see,” he said. “It’s day to day… [A] week? I don’t think so. It’s nothing too serious.”
Asked if there was any problem with his ACL or MCL, he said, “No, no, no. It’s none of that.”
He said the injury happened “when Robinson fell on my leg, toward the end of the third quarter.”
He played the overtime on “adrenaline. You really don’t feel it” until the next day.
When he awoke Monday, “it felt a little sore. That was pretty much it. I’m not in much pain. I don’t have to take any Tylenol or anything like that. It’s pretty fine. I will continue to get treatment so it gets better.”
He said he’s wearing a protective brace on the knee to “keep it still.”
▪ The Heat will determine on Tuesday who travels to Cleveland to play the league’s best team on Wednesday in Ohio.
Three of the injured Heat players (Wiggins, Ware and Mitchell) didn’t leave the games in which they were injured but have been sidelined subsequently.
Wiggins has missed three games in a row, Jaquez two in a row, and Ware and Mitchell one game apiece. The Heat also remains without forward Nikola Jovic, who is out for at least several weeks with a hand injury.
Though Miami is short-handed, the Heat has been leaning against waiving injured guard Dru Smith, who’s on a two-way contract, and adding a new player on a two-way deal. Tuesday is the NBA deadline to sign players to two-way contracts.
Miami currently has the maximum three players on two-way deals: Smith and guards Isaiah Stevens and Josh Christopher.
The Heat values Smith, who is recovering from a torn Achilles’, and is reluctant to subject him to waivers.
Teams can sign players to standard contracts at any time, but any player who has appeared in the NBA this season must have been waived by Monday to be playoff eligible with another team.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 9:51 PM.
