Heat opens Las Vegas Summer League with loss despite breakout day from Kasparas Jakucionis
Maybe all Miami Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis needed was a change of scenery.
After totaling just 12 points on 1-of-15 (6.7%) from the field, 0-of-11 shooting from three-point range and 10-of-12 shooting from the foul line in his first three summer league games at the California Classic, it didn’t take long for Jakucionis to snap out of his horrid shooting slump in Las Vegas.
While the Heat opened Las Vegas Summer League with a 105-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday at Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV’s campus despite leading by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, it was still an encouraging day for Miami because of Jakucionis’ bounce-back effort. Jakucionis surpassed his three-game scoring total from the California Classic in the first quarter he played in Las Vegas.
The 19-year-old Jakucionis caught fire in Friday’s first quarter, recording 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 shooting on threes and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in the opening period.
Jakucionis made his first four three-point attempts of the game before missing his fifth three-point shot of the day in the final seconds of the first half.
Jakucionis, who was selected by the Heat with the 20th pick in the first round of last month’s draft, closed the Heat’s Las Vegas opener with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, 5-of-9 shooting on threes and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two turnovers in 28 minutes for a much-needed standout day after a rough showing at the California Classic.
“It was good to see him get his feet underneath him,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Eric Glass said of Jakucionis after the team’s first game in Las Vegas. “He looked more himself. Hopefully we can continue to grow with that.”
But Heat center Kel’el Ware’s underwhelming summer league continued, as he finished Friday’s defeat in Las Vegas with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds, one steal and one block in 27 minutes.
This comes after Ware averaged 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks per appearance while shooting 9 of 24 (37.5%) from the field and 1 of 8 (12.5%) from three-point range during two games at the California Classic.
After establishing himself as one of the NBA’s top rookies and making the NBA All-Rookie Second Team last season, more is expected from Ware.
The Heat, which went 6-0 in Las Vegas and won the summer league championship last year, will play its second of at least five games in Las Vegas this year on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Here are some other things to know from the Heat’s summer league loss to the Hawks on Friday:
▪ The Heat opened Las Vegas Summer League with its preferred summer league starting lineup of Kira Lewis, Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson and Ware.
The Heat then used Vlad Goldin, Erik Stevenson, Marcus Williams and Javonte Cooke off the bench.
▪ After Larsson and Johnson were named to the All-California Classic Team for their strong start to this year’s summer league, what did they do to begin Las Vegas Summer League?
Larsson totaled 16 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 shooting on threes and 9-of-11 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, three assists and one steal on Friday.
Johnson contributed nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, three assists and one block on Friday.
Both Larsson and Johnson are entering their second NBA season and are already signed to standard contracts for this upcoming season.
▪ Cooke stood out among the Heat’s summer reserves on Friday, finishing the loss with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting on threes, six rebounds, two assists and one steal.
After going undrafted in 2022 out of Winston Salem State, Cooke has spent the last three seasons in the G League.
Cooke, who turns 26 on July 11, averaged 17 points, five rebounds, 2.8 assists and one steal per game while shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 85 of 254 (33.5 percent) from three-point range in 42 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliate last season. Cooke (6-foot-6 and 185 pounds) has yet to play in an NBA game.
Cooke is establishing himself as an intriguing candidate for the Heat’s open two-way contract slot.
“Javonte is a dynamic scorer, obviously,” Glass said. “He led [Oklahoma City G League’s team] in scoring this year. He had a tough shooting time in California. But today is his birthday, so I think he had a little bit more motivation or something. He’s a good scorer. We like his game.”
▪ Among the Heat contingent in attendance for Friday’s game in Las Vegas were head coach Erik Spoelstra, associate head coach Chris Quinn, assistant coaches Malik Allen and Octavio De La Grana, vice president of basketball development Udonis Haslem, and vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon.
Spoelstra appeared on the ESPN2 broadcast of Friday’s game and spoke about various Heat topics.
Of the addition of veteran guard Norman Powell, Spoelstra said: “Really excited about the addition of Norm. We’ve competed against him for a long time. When he was in Toronto, we had some great battles when he was a young player. Just the competitive spirit, the toughness that he brings, that’s the part we really liked about him initially. But then the scoring boost, there’s no doubt about it, we need it. His ability to get downhill. He’s a great catch-and-shoot three-point shooter. He’s ignitable like we like to say, can put points on the board in a hurry. He fits with the guys we have. We don’t think that will be a concern at all. I’m excited to have his personality and competitiveness with our group.”
▪ Guard Josh Christopher, who was a Heat summer league standout last year and closed this past season on a two-way contract with the Heat, is now on the Hawks’ summer league roster. But Christopher did not play Friday because he was just added to Atlanta’s summer roster on Thursday.
Christopher, who is not eligible for another two-way contract because he has too much NBA experience under his belt, is an unrestricted free agent.
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 6:38 PM.
