Heat ready to see what new starting lineup with Tyler Herro can be
The Miami Heat is finally healthy enough to get to its new preferred starting lineup.
With guard Tyler Herro back after missing 30 of the first 36 games this season with injuries, the Heat was set to use the starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls at United Center for the first time since a Dec. 9 loss to the Orlando Magic. But Thursday’s game in Chicago was postponed “due to moisture on the floor rendering the court unplayable.”
“We were all looking forward to playing in Chicago,” Herro said after the team’s morning shootaround on Saturday in Indianapolis. “I think that was one of our most, if not our healthiest we’ve been in quite some time. We all went to dinner after the game together like, ‘Damn, we were looking forward to playing.’”
Instead, the Mitchell-Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Adebayo lineup’s first start in a month is expected to come in Saturday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Saturday would mark this group’s fifth start of the season together through the first 38 games, with the Heat posting a 2-2 record in the lineup’s first four starts.
The Mitchell-Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Adebayo unit has actually been one of the Heat’s best lineups this season in the limited time these five players have been on the court together. Entering Saturday, this combination has outscored opponents by 12.7 points per 100 possessions in 73 minutes together this season.
“We wanted to see it through before, and the injuries prevented that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game against the Pacers. “There are a lot of important lineups. So we’ll look at this or this information gathering, but I think it has an opportunity to be a really dynamic lineup for us. We’ll continue to utilize the versatility of our roster and weaponize different lineups throughout the course of the game.”
The move to re-insert Herro into the starting group means second-year center Kel’el Ware will return to a bench role after starting in the previous 11 games.
“Our young guys are so pivotal to our success,” Spoelstra said, referring to the 21-year-old Ware joining a Heat bench rotation that also includes the 24-year-old Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the 22-year-old Nikola Jovic. “And they’ll come in and off the bench, and give us great energy and a boost.”
While the double-dig look of Adebayo and Ware could still be used by the Heat throughout the course of games, the Heat is pulling the plug on that starting frontcourt for now after the pairing’s underwhelming production.
Entering Saturday, the Heat has been outscored by 7.7 points per 100 possessions in the 266 minutes that Adebayo and Ware have played together this season. Among the Heat’s 34 two-man lineups that have played at least 200 minutes together this season, the Adebayo-Ware pairing has the second-worst net rating.
“I feel like it’s grown,” Ware said of his partnership with Adebayo on Saturday. “But with playing with each other, that’s not my decision. So I can’t really tell you that. But I mean, obviously, I hope to share the court with all of my teammates.”
With Herro’s limited availability this season, he hasn’t yet been able to log extended minutes alongside his new backcourt partner Norman Powell. Herro and Powell entered Saturday with just 89 minutes played together this season after Powell was acquired by the Heat in a trade this past offseason.
The Heat’s hope is that it can remain healthy enough to see what Herro and Powell can do together, and what this new starting lineup can be.
“It’s not just play your game,” Herro said. “I think we all, in different ways, have to sacrifice to try to make it work, especially with that first unit. So if that’s changing up how you play a little bit, it’s a sacrifice. Including myself, doing some winning things that will help the whole group as a whole as opposed to just myself.”
THE KEL’EL BOWL
With Ware splitting his college basketball career between Oregon and Indiana, he found himself in an interesting situation for Friday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal game between Oregon and Indiana.
“It was crazy just to watch those two go against each other,” Ware said, “because I went to both.”
But Ware made clear he was rooting for Indiana, which is where he turned in his best college season and ended his college career. Ware transferred out of Oregon after his freshman season.
“I’m rooting for Indiana to get the whole thing,” Ware said.
Indiana will face the Miami Hurricanes in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19.
IN THE G LEAGUE
It was a historic night for one player on the Heat’s G League team.
Guard Trevor Keels finished the Sioux Falls Skyforce’s win over the Rip City Remix on Friday night with 46 points on 16-of-18 shooting from the field and 12-of-12 shooting from three-point range. The performance set a new NBA G League single-game record for the most three-pointers made without a miss and tied the Skyforce franchise record for made three-pointers in a game.
“It was incredible,” Spoelstra said of Keels’ accomplishment. “I mean, we had it on our phone during the football game. And he just kept on going and not missing. It’s kind of like [Indiana quarterback Fernando] Mendoza in terms of the completion rate. It was pretty impressive to keep your concentration all the way through like that. But our young guys there have been developing all season long, and it’s been a fun process to see.”
The 23-year-old Keels is currently able to sign with any NBA team. Keels was originally taken by the New York Knicks in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
JAQUEZ AVAILABLE
Jaquez was added to the injury report for Saturday’s matchup against the Pacers because of a stomach illness, but he will be available to play.
The Heat only ruled out Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) for Saturday’s game in Indianapolis.
After taking on the Pacers on Saturday, the Heat closes its trip on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 11:54 AM.
