Heat trying to pick up the pace and sustain it this season: ‘We have to play faster’
.JPG "Bam Adebayo (13) shakes hands with head coach Erik Spoelstra during the second day of Miami Heat Training Camp on Oct. 1, 2025, at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.")
The Miami Heat is known for its defensive-oriented approach. But even the Heat knows much of the focus this preseason needs to be on its offense.
“I would say a lot of offense,” Heat third-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said of the emphasis so far in preseason practices. “Usually you think of the Heat as a very defensive-minded team. We’re still doing defense, but there has been a lot of emphasis on our offense and transition and running, and how to develop easy buckets.”
That’s because the Heat knows its offense must be better after finishing with one of the NBA’s 10 worst offensive ratings in each of the last three seasons..
So, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff again find themselves working to revamp the offense this preseason in hopes of building a more efficient unit.
What has been the biggest change to the Heat’s offense that players have noticed through the first week of practice?
“Getting up and down, playing faster,” Heat three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said. “It’s a no-hold way of playing offense.
“Our pace is up the court. It’s no-hold. We want to share the ball. We want everybody to feel involved. Our offense is very fast-paced and we want to move the ball.”
Even Heat newcomer Norman Powell has noticed the early emphasis on playing an uptempo style.
“Honestly, one of the biggest points of emphasis is just being in the condition to play at the speed and level that we want to play at,” Powell said before the Heat played its second of six preseason games on Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks at Kaseya Center. “So we’ve been doing a lot of stuff, getting up and down, pushing the pace. A lot of things have just been about tempo, playing open, playing off of one another, reading the game. “
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.
“It’s been a huge emphasis,” Jaquez said of the push to play faster this season. “We’ve been a very slow team historically. The Heat, just in general, have been a slower team. We’re just trying to change that. The game just continues to get faster, and we want to grow with the game and not get left behind. Part of that is the pace.”
So, how are Heat coaches trying to make sure playing at a speedier pace sticks throughout the season this time?
First, the Heat’s drills are designed to get players in the shape required to consistently play this up-and-down style. That has meant a lot of running.
“That has been the main focus, sustaining this pace.,” Powell said. “We’ve done a great job. They’ve been pushing us, making sure we’re pushing through the fatigue, the tiredness and still playing at a high level. Not only fast, but thinking at a high level when you’re fatigued and tired. They haven’t waned on that. Every single day, it’s been about pace, getting out in transition, running. All the drills have been full court, running to our spots with speed and pushing through that tiredness and fatigue. I don’t think we’re going to slow down going into the season.”
Jaquez added: “We’re doing four-on-four full court just to try to get our bodies in the best shape possible to be able to maintain that pace and running in transition.”
Heat coaches have also introduced other wrinkles to encourage players to play fast.
“We had some rules during the practice, like you got to get the ball over half-court in four seconds or it’s a turnover and stuff like that,” Heat forward Nikola Jovic said. “Just to get our minds wrapped around that we have to play faster.”
Even in half-court situations, Heat coaches want players to play with pace. That means a lot of purposeful ball movement and off-ball cuts..
“We’ve been playing with no dribble,” Powell said. “So really working the offense, cutting, moving the space, pulling over to daylight, letting those cuts act as drives. So the guy is cutting and he gets the ball on the cut. Where are we moving? Where are we spacing to? Where are the rotations? Just to get guys thinking and moving without over-dribbling and turning it into a one-on-one. We really emphasize the team and ball movement, body movement. That’s been a heavy emphasis this year.
“Having great pace, keeping defenses off balance in what we want to do, how we cut, how hard we cut. Causing confusion is what they’ve been saying every single day. Our body movement, our cuts will cause confusion and open up so we can read the game.”
This is a new style for a new-look Heat roster that features plenty of speed and athleticism.
This is a new style for a new-look Heat roster that’s no longer built around the mismatch hunting and bully-ball approach of Jimmy Butler.
“When you have a ball-dominant player like Jimmy who was here, you have to play at his pace. It was working,” Jovic said of Butler, who the Heat traded to the Golden State Warriors midway through last season. “I know basketball in the NBA has transitioned to more transition basketball. But if you have a guy like that who can get you to the top with that pace, you have to play slow. This year, it’s just easier. You don’t have a guy who’s ball-dominant like that. So we just got to find a way to play faster.”
It’s only one preseason game, but the Heat is off to a solid start. Miami 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
“I love our speed, our quickness, our youthful exuberance,” Spoelstra said. “So it makes sense to try to take advantage of that. How much we will, our play will let us know. But I’m intentional about trying to play to those strengths.”
To keep up this fast pace in the regular season, the Heat will need to be intentional about doing things differently than it has in the past. 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.
“From the neck up,” Adebayo said of sustaining an uptempo style this season. “Our mental mentality of we’re going to have games that are in the mud. We know that. But if we have a 10-game stretch and 7 out of 10 we’re playing fast, I like those odds rather than we’re going in and we’re playing 10 and there are two games we’re playing fast.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat is 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) — for Monday’s preseason game against the Bucks. It marks the second straight exhibition they have missed.
In addition, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio (left lower leg tightness) will also be unavailable 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.
NEW-LOOK SUITES
The Kaseya Center announced Tuesday the completion of a $14 million suite level renovation. This comes after the completion of a two-year, $50 million renovation completed during the summers of 2023 and 2024 that included an overhaul of the scoreboard, sound system, arena lighting and premium seating.
“We are so excited to unveil a completely refreshed suite level, which is sleeker and more modern, and mirrors Miami’s unique brand of elegance and sophistication,” Heat president of business operations Eric Woolworth said in a press release issued by the team. “This project is another testament to the Arison family’s decades-long commitment of reinvesting in Kaseya Center ensuring it remains a competitive, efficient and award-winning facility at the center of our ever-evolving arts and entertainment district.
The suite renovation includes “new surfaces and fixtures throughout the space as well as new entry walls and doors, flooring, ceilings, HVAC equipment, furniture, window treatments, millwork, lighting and appliances.”
The renovation has also created a limited amount of new center-court premium seats near courtside that are now available. Those interested can call 786-777-4399 or visit Heat.com/Premium.
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 9:58 AM.
