Powell gets hot, Jovic starts again, other takeaways from Heat preseason loss to Bucks
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 103-93 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night at Kaseya Center to fall to 0-2 this preseason. The Heat will continue its six-game exhibition schedule on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs in Miami:
The Heat again was missing a chunk of its roster for its second preseason game, but the rotation regulars who were available played on Monday.
The Heat was again without five guards — Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery), Kasparas Jakucionis (sprained left wrist), Pelle Larsson (left quad contusion), Davion Mitchell (calf soreness) and Terry Rozier (strained left hamstring) — on Monday. They have now missed the first two exhibition games.
In addition, the Heat was missing Simone Fontecchio (left lower leg tightness) on Monday. Fontecchio played in the Heat’s preseason opener, finishing with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, three rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench during Saturday’s exhibition loss to the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico.
So, the Heat again went with the starting lineup of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo on Monday. It’s the same starting group that Miami used for Saturday’s preseason opener.
After pulling all five starters with 4:34 left in Monday’s first quarter, the Heat went with a second unit of center Kel’el Ware, forward Keshad Johnson, forward Myron Gardner, guard Dru Smith and guard Trevor Keels.
The Heat then gave Adebayo, Wiggins and Powell the second half off. Instead, Miami began the third quarter with a lineup of Jahmir Young, Keels, Jaquez, Jovic and Precious Achiuwa.
Adebayo closed with five points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line and one block in 16 first-half minutes. He committed five turnovers.
Wiggins finished with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting on threes and one rebound in 16 first-half minutes.
Jaquez added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 shooting from three-point range and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes.
The only available Heat players who didn’t get into Monday’s contest were undrafted rookies Dain Dainja and Vlad Goldin.
The Bucks also played a lot of their regulars for at least a stint or two against the Heat, but two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play on Monday. Antetokounmpo just recently returned to practice after dealing with COVID-19.
Powell showed off his scoring ability that the Heat will rely on to help lift its offense, especially while Herro is sidelined.
Powell, who was acquired by the Heat in a three-team trade this offseason, followed up his quiet five-point preseason debut on Saturday by exploding for 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range on Monday before getting the second half off.
“He can really get hot from three,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Powell. “Guys were finding him, and I think we can definitely build on that.”
This is what Powell does, as he was among six NBA players who averaged at least 21 points per game while shooting better than 48% from the field and better than 40% from three-point range last regular season along with Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine and Kawhi Leonard.
“They know what I can do, they know what I bring to the table,” Powell said. “But it’s just getting comfortable, finding the chemistry and flow with the guys on the floor.”
The Heat hopes Powell can continue to serve as one of the league’s most efficient scorers, especially with Herro expected to miss at least the first month of the regular season after undergoing ankle surgery last month.
The Heat has now started Jovic alongside center Adebayo in each of the first two preseason games.
This is notable, considering that Ware closed last season as Adebayo’s partner in the Heat’s starting frontcourt.
But Jovic, 22, is getting an opportunity to prove he deserves that starting spot after some encouraging stretches over the second half of last season and a productive offseason as a member of the Serbian national team.
Jovic flashed off his well-rounded skill set on Monday, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 23 minutes.
“We’ll see what we do with the starting lineup,” Spoelstra said before Monday’s exhibition when asked about his decision to start Jovic early this preseason. “Niko has played well. Does that mean he’s going to start day one? I don’t know, but I like what he’s doing right now.”
The Heat actually opened last season with the Adebayo-Jovic frontcourt, using this tandem to begin the first eight games before Spoelstra pulled Jovic from the starting group because of poor results. The Heat was outscored by 2.9 points per 100 possessions in the 688 minutes that Adebayo and Jovic played together last regular season.
The hope is that Jovic’s growth and improvement lead to better results alongside Adebayo this upcoming season.
The skilled 6-foot-10 Jovic averaged career highs in points (10.7 per game), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.1) last season in his third NBA season.
Jovic’s best work came after he was moved to a bench role last season. He logged double-digit minutes in 31 straight regular-season games, averaging 12 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 37.8% on threes.
But an injury put an end to that impressive string of games, as Jovic broke his right hand on Feb. 23 and missed the final 27 games of last regular season.
Jovic’s challenge this season is staying healthy and carving out a consistent role in the Heat’s rotation after beginning last season as a starter, then being completely moved out of the rotation, and ultimately thriving in a sixth man role off the bench during the back half of the season. He has never appeared in more than 46 games in a regular season through his first three seasons.
Meanwhile, Ware has yet to play alongside Adebayo this preseason.
This is also notable, considering Ware closed last season as a Heat starter alongside Adebayo.
Ware started 33 games alongside Adebayo last regular season and the Heat posted a 14-19 record in those games with that double-big frontcourt. All of those starts came following the start of January, as the Heat shifted to this pairing midway through last season.
The Heat outscored opponents by 4.6 points per 100 possessions in the 541 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together last regular season, as the defense produced impressive results but the offense was underwhelming with this duo on the court.
But Spoelstra has kept Ware and Adebayo’s minutes separate early this preseason, with Ware essentially starting the exhibition schedule as the Heat’s backup center.
Ware, 21, put together a quality stat line Monday with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting on threes and 2-of-3 shooting from the foul line and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. He was especially dominant in the fourth quarter, recording 14 points and six rebounds in the period.
But Spoelstra still wasn’t thrilled with Ware’s performance, pointing out that Ware finished with a rough plus/minus of minus 21.
“I’m not looking at the stat line,” Spoelstra said following Monday’s exhibition. “I think everybody’s looking at the wrong thing. It’s got to impact the game. I want him the next game to be a plus 20.”
The Heat is trying to play faster this season, and it has shown in the first two preseason games.
The Heat played its preseason opener on Saturday at a pace of 106.5 possessions per 48 minutes that would have ranked as the fastest pace in the NBA last regular season.
The Heat then carried over that fast pace to Monday’s second exhibition game, and played even faster. Miami finished its exhibition loss to the Bucks at a pace of 109.5 possessions per 48 minutes.
“We’re emphasizing pace, space, and playing quicker,” Powell said.
The Heat rushed the ball up the court and didn’t take many possessions late into the shot clock on Monday. Instead, there were hit-ahead passes and plenty of running off Bucks turnovers and misses.
Just four minutes into Monday’s contest, the Heat turned a Bucks miss into a Wiggins alley-oop dunk in a span of just three seconds thanks to a quick hit-ahead pass from Jaquez and an alley-oop lob from Powell.
By the end of the night, the Heat outscored the Bucks 19-9 in fast-break points.
The Heat is simply searching for solutions on that end of the court after finishing with one of the NBA’s 10 worst offensive ratings in each of the last three seasons..
Heat coaches and players have spoken about playing faster in the past, but have not been able to sustain that approach in the regular season.
The Heat played at a fast pace of 104.2 possessions per 48 minutes last preseason, but slowed to a pace of 97.1 possessions per 48 minutes last regular season to finish as the league’s fourth-slowest team. In fact, the Heat has finished as one of the five slowest-paced teams in the NBA in each of the past six regular seasons.
The Heat has never finished the regular season as a top-15 team in pace through Spoelstra’s first 17 seasons as the Heat’s head coach.
But Spoelstra and his staff hope to change that this season with a younger and more athletic roster than they’ve had in recent years.
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 9:57 PM.
