Erik Spoelstra explains latest change to Heat starting unit. Also, Bam on his late-game takeover
One thing is clear through the first two weeks of the season: The Miami Heat is not against making changes to its starting lineup.
With the Heat (4-3) moving center Kel’el Ware to a reserve role for Monday night’s 120-119 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome, Miami has now cycled through four different starting lineups in the first seven games of the season.
With starting guard Norman Powell returning from a three-game absence stemming from a groin issue, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra moved Ware out of the starting lineup and instead kept guard Pelle Larsson in the starting group on Monday. That led to Miami using a small starting unit of the 6-foot Davion Mitchell, 6-4 Powell, the 6-5 Larsson, 6-7 Andrew Wiggins and 6-9 Bam Adebayo against a Clippers team that started 6-6 Derrick Jones Jr. at power forward.
“They’re dynamic,” Spoelstra said of the Clippers, hinting that his decision to start Larsson over the 7-foot Ware was based on Monday’s matchup. “I know probably people will point to Kel’el and say it’s a demotion. It’s not. I know there will be some teams that it makes more sense to play big. We have a team that it makes more sense to use our versatility. Sometimes it changes the starting lineup to do that. They were playing Kawhi [Leonard] or Derrick Jones at the four, that’s a lot of versatility and speed. We wanted to make sure that we could not match that, but could dictate things.”
The move worked for Miami on Monday, as the Heat’s starting lineup outscored the Clippers by 12 points in 21 minutes together. The Mitchell-Powell-Larsson-Wiggins-Adebayo lineup had not played together this regular season before starting Monday’s game.
Larsson, 24, played a big part in the unit’s success.
He came away with all three of his steals and drew his lone charge call of the game in Monday’s third quarter to set the defensive tone for the Heat following the team’s underwhelming defensive effort in the first half. The Heat held the Clippers to just 48 points in the second half after the Clippers totaled 71 points in the first half.
“He started the spark in that third quarter,” Wiggins said of the second-year guard who finished with seven points and team-best plus-minus of plus-11. “First with the deflection, then he got the steal. He was all over the place, making it hard for the other team.”
Ware, who is also in his second NBA season, also produced quality minutes following his move to a reserve role on Monday after being benched for much of Sunday’s road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ware, 21, recorded 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range, five rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes.
“Kel’el gave us great minutes,” Spoelstra said. “It was really great to see them respond.”
Whether another change to the Heat’s starting lineup is coming for Wednesday’s matchup against the Nuggets in Denver (9 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) remains to be seen.
LEARNING FROM THE BEST
Adebayo took over late to help the Heat come away with Monday’s one-point win over the Clippers, scoring the Heat’s final four points and also forcing Clippers star guard James Harden into a turnover all during the final 1:31 of the contest.
“I’ve been watching somebody in the summer do that a lot, so I took some pointers,” Adebayo said with a grin when asked about his late-game takeover, referring to his girlfriend and four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson.
Adebayo closed Monday’s victory with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range and 3-of-5 shooting from the foul line, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“Bam continues to be our leader,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s captain and three-time All-Star.
RETURN GAME
Powell, who spent three-plus seasons with the Clippers before being dealt to the Heat in July, closed his return to Intuit Dome with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 7-of-7 shooting from the foul line on Monday. It also marked his return from a groin injury that forced him to miss the previous three games.
Powell has been vocal about the fact that he’s unhappy with how his Clippers tenure ended. Powell was in extension talks with the Clippers before his sudden trade to the Heat this past offseason
“I know a lot of people have a lot of emotions going forward, and I had it,” Powell said of facing his former team. “But I just told myself to lean into it, not shy away, and just continue to be present no matter what was going on. Whether I had a good start, a bad start, whatever, just stay the course, stay even-keel, and work the game and we were able to get the win.”
The Clippers played a tribute video for Powell during the first timeout of Monday’s game, and it was met with a nice ovation from the Los Angeles crowd. Fans even briefly chanted, “Norman Powell,” at the end of the video.
“He’s been working diligently behind the scenes with the training staff,” Spoelstra said of Powell’s return from injury following Monday’s win. “He was on somewhat of a minutes restriction. Yet, you can see how he changes the dynamic of our team offensively. We really can get to a different level with him, and it will be the same thing with Tyler [Herro].”
INJURY REPORT
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s matchup against the Nuggets after missing the first seven games of the season because of a right groin strain.
The Heat will be without Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Nuggets.
The Nuggets ruled out Tamar Bates (G League), DaRon Holmes II (G League) and Curtis Jones (G League) for Wednesday’s game against the Heat.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (left calf tightness) is listed as probable.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM.
