Heat again stuck in the middle at midpoint of season: ‘We are what our record is right now’
The Miami Heat is again stuck in the middle.
After middling regular seasons forced the Heat to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons, the Heat again finds itself in the middle of what has become another mediocre regular season up to this point.
Thursday night’s 119-114 loss to the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center dropped the Heat to 21-20 at the midpoint of this season. Following a strong 14-7 start to the season, the Heat is just 7-13.
“We feel like we’re better than where we are, but we are what our record is right now. That’s the bottom line,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the second half of the season beginning Saturday night against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder at Kaseya Center (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun and WPLG Local 10). “If you play games on paper, I think right now we would have a better record. But that’s not the case right now.”
Instead, the Heat again sits in play-in tournament territory as the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference this season. The play-in tourney features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
The Heat again finds itself with a bottom-10 offensive rating despite revamping its offense to go from the NBA’s 27th-ranked pace team last season to the fastest-paced team this season. After finishing with one of the NBA’s 10 worst offensive ratings in three straight seasons, the Heat entered Friday ranked 21st out of 30 NBA teams in offensive rating this season.
The Heat is also again struggling against quality opponents, as Thursday’s loss to the Celtics sank the Heat to 8-17 this season against teams currently with a winning record.
“We are better than what our record says,” Heat captain and three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said. “But until all of us commit to doing role-player things, we’ll keep being in the middle of the pack, mediocre. Until guys get sick of that middle ground of being seventh, eighth and not want to really make a push to be fourth or third in the East, we’re going to stay right here.”
The Heat has struggled to put a 48-minute game together, often producing positive stretches that recently haven’t been sustained long enough to come away with wins.
With the Heat wasting a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in Thursday’s loss to the Celtics, Miami has now blown six double-digit leads in losses this season. Four of those blown double-digit leads have come in the last five weeks.
Further evidence of the Heat’s inconsistency within games: Miami has the league’s ninth-ranked net rating in the first half (outscoring opponents by 4.3 points per 100 possessions), but the 18th-ranked net rating in the second half (outscored by opponents by two points per 100 possessions) this season.
“We’re just not completing enough games where we play a full 48 minutes collectively,” Heat guard Norman Powell said. “I think that’s the hurdle that we got to get over at some point if we want to make something of the season. We can’t get bored with the process or tired of what’s working. We got to continue to play the right way, our style for a full 48 minutes. Not even just on the offensive end, just collectively making winning plays and efforts every single possession and holding each other accountable.”
“Continuing to make winning plays no matter if you’re making shots, missing shots, you’re getting the ball, not getting the ball, you’re getting the minutes you want, you’re not getting the minutes you want. Whoever’s on the floor, it has to be a collective mindset that you’re going to do whatever it takes in your minutes and your time to make winning plays for the 48-minute game.”
The Heat believes it’s close to being the team it wants to be.
Maybe the Heat just has to continue to force turnovers to get out of the middle, as it is 14-4 this season when scoring more than 20 points off opponent turnovers. The Heat is also 12-7 this season when winning the possession battle and finishing with more field-goal attempts than its opponent.
“It’s right in the margins for us. But are we going to do it or not?” Powell added. “We can go up and down, win two games, lose three, win a game, whatever. It’s on us to win the game within the margins. We do that, we’re fine. If you look on paper, look at our averages and things like that, we’re right there with teams. But especially when we’re playing teams that know how to win and have that winning DNA, been in the Finals, big games. They know how to win, they know how to gut wins out even when it’s not pretty. And that’s what we’re trying to get to. That’s where our hurdle is, our Achilles heel.
“Are we going to fold when adversity hits us individually, collectively? Are we going to bear down, knuckle down, and toughen up mentally and push through and do what it takes, and find ways to impact the game, and find ways to impact winning? That’s our hurdle.”
With the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline approaching, changes could be coming for the Heat if things keep trending in the wrong direction.
“We all know what we’re capable of,” said Heat guard Tyler Herro, who has missed 30 of the team’s first 41 games after offseason ankle surgery and a toe injury. “We just got to collectively get these wins.”
For now, the Heat is again stuck in the middle.
“We’re right there,” Powell said. “It’s literally on us to have the mental fortitude and the competitive will to win, and what we want to make out of this season.”
INJURY REPORT
Heat starting guard Davion Mitchell (left shoulder contusion) and sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left knee sprain) will miss their second straight game on Saturday against the Thunder because of their injuries.
Along with missing Mitchell and Jaquez, the Heat will remain without Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) on Saturday.
In addition, Herro is listed as questionable for the contest because of a right big toe contusion and a rib contusion.
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 1:02 PM.
