Short-handed Heat finds a way to beat NBA-best, defending NBA champion Thunder. Takeaways
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 122-20 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (35-8) on Saturday night at Kaseya Center to close its three-game homestand at 2-1. The Heat (22-20) now travels to the West Coast for a five-game trip that begins Monday against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco:
The undermanned Heat played hard and kept it close against the defending NBA champion Thunder, and ultimately came away with one of its best victories of the season to salvage the homestand.
“It was one of these, after the [loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday], where there was just utter frustration and anger after that game, where we felt like we outplayed them for the overwhelming majority of the game and lose the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So there was a lot of that fueling us. And this was by any and whatever means necessary game, whatever it takes. And you just saw those incredible efforts down the stretch.”
The Heat was without two starters (Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell) and its top reserve (Jaime Jaquez Jr.) because of injuries.
Meanwhile, the Thunder entered with the NBA’s top net rating and top record this season.
But the short-handed Heat played hard, didn’t make things easy for the talented Thunder, and ended up handing the Thunder only their eighth loss of the season.
The Thunder started fast, pulling ahead by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Heat made a run in the second quarter to trim the deficit to five at halftime.
The Heat’s momentum continued in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 27-16 run to pull ahead by six points with 4:40 left in the period.
The Heat shot 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) from three-point range in the third quarter to win the period 35-30 and enter the fourth quarter tied with the Thunder at 95.
The undermanned Heat hung around in large part because it dominated the possession battle, taking 22 more field-goal attempts than the Thunder through the first three quarters behind its low-turnover appearance and big advantage on the offensive glass.
The Heat continued to trade punches with the Thunder in a fourth quarter that included seven lead changes and six ties.
The Heat put itself in position to come away with the improbable victory, with possession of the ball and trailing by one point with 38.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Heat guard Norman Powell drove into the paint and drew extra defenders, finding an open Andrew Wiggins on the right wing. Wiggins took advantage of the quality look, hitting the clutch three-pointer to put the Heat ahead by two points with 31.7 seconds to play.
The Thunder then came out of a timeout with a set play that had guard Alex Caruso deliver an alley-oop inbounds pass to center Chet Holmgren. But Holmgren couldn’t finish the dunk, as the ball rimmed out and Adebayo grabbed the defensive rebound to preserve the Heat’s two-point advantage with 27.6 seconds left.
But the Thunder still had one more opportunity to force overtime or escape with the win in regulation after Wiggins missed a three.
That gave the Thunder possession of the ball with three seconds to play.
After taking a timeout to advance the ball past halfcourt, the Thunder generated a quality look on the final possession that would have won the game for Oklahoma City. But Caruso missed a three-pointer as the final buzzer sounded.
Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 30 points on 9-of-22 shooting from the field, 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, 12 rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Powell totaled 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting from behind the arc and 4-of-7 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds and four assists.
By committing only four turnovers and finishing with a big 21-5 edge in offensive rebounds, the Heat closed with an eye-opening 111-77 advantage in field-goal attempts on Saturday.
“That’s nuts,” Spoelstra said of taking 34 more shots than the Thunder. “It’s by whatever means necessary.”
It marks only the second game in franchise history that the Heat has taken 34 or more field-goal attempts than its opponent. The other such instance came in a Heat loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 1, 2003, when Miami took 36 more field-goal attempts than San Antonio.
“I thought we came out and set the right tone and played to our identity,” Powell said. “We were able to sustain our identity, offensively, defensively, throughout the course of the game, no matter what run they went on, what call went their way or didn’t go our way. We were mentally tough. We stood together.”
This big advantage in field-goal attempts allowed the Heat to overcome inefficient 36.9 percent shooting from the field and a 39-point performance from Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It also helped that Miami shot 20 of 50 (40 percent) from three-point range.
“That was a hard-fought win,” Adebayo said. “We had to scrap for that one. It just shows what we’re capable of. Now it’s on us to be more consistent with that type of game, and really commit to that. Because as we can see, as you buy into what coach is preaching, it can lead to Ws.”
Along with facing the team with the NBA’s top record this season, the Heat won despite missing a chunk of its rotation on Saturday.
The Heat played without Herro (rib contusion), Mitchell (left shoulder contusion) and Jaquez (sprained left knee).
Saturday marked the second straight game that Jaquez and Mitchell have missed this season, but the first game that Herro has missed with his new rib issue.
However, Saturday is already the 31st game that Herro has missed this season. He missed the first 17 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgery, 13 games because of a toe contusion and now one game because of a rib contusion.
“The one at the beginning of the year, that was just something coming into the season,” Spoelstra said Saturday when asked about all of Herro’s missed games this season. “You can’t control that. But there’s going to be daily stuff that happens with everybody. We can’t necessarily look at because you missed the first part of the year that you’re not going to have your normal things that happen in an NBA season. This shouldn’t be long-term. We’ll just continue to treat him and see how he responds.”
Along with missing Herro, Jaquez and Mitchell, the Heat was also without Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Thunder.
The only rotation player that the Thunder was without on Saturday was center Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus strain). But the Thunder did lose starting forward Jalen Williams in the first half, as he left the game with 5:39 left in the second quarter and did not return because of right thigh soreness.
With two starters out, the Heat was forced to use its 14th different starting lineup of the season.
The Heat opened Saturday’s game with a lineup of Kasparas Jakucionis, Powell, Pelle Larsson, Wiggins and Adebayo. Not only did Saturday mark this group’s first start together, but this five-man combination had only played one minute together this season prior to this start.
Larsson made his second straight start for the sidelined Mitchell and Jakucionius started in place of the injured Herro.
It marked only the second start of Jakucionis’ rookie season.
“This is the league right now,” Spoelstra said of using new lineups because of the team’s injury issues. “Every team is going through some version of this at some point during the season or a lot during the season. And that’s why you do have to have depth. But it’s more this mindset, this mentality that you better find a way. You just figure it out collectively.”
The 19-year-old Jakucionis finished the start with three points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, five rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes. He did not commit a turnover, but fouled out with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter.
All eyes were on Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware on Saturday after Spoelstra benched him for the entire second half of Thursday’s loss to the Celtics and then called him out following that defeat. Ware played more minutes on Saturday than he did Thursday.
“It was a tough matchup for him in Boston with all the coverages, and the same thing tonight,” Spoelstra said after Thursday’s loss when asked about Ware’s second-half benching. “He just has to stay ready. Look, with Kel’el, I know that’s a lightning-rod topic. He needs to get back to where he was eight weeks ago, seven weeks ago, where I felt and everybody in the building felt, he was stacking days, good days. He’s stacking days in the wrong direction now. He’s just got to get back to that. Stack days, build those habits, make sure you’re ready and play the minutes that you’re playing to a point where it makes me want to play you more. “I get it with some young players. You sometimes subconsciously play poorly to say, ‘Hey, I’ll play poorly until you play me the minutes I think I deserve. Then I’ll play well.’ That’s not how it works.”
Spoelstra opened his pregame media session on Saturday by clarifying those comments.
“I didn’t articulate that in a great way and that wasn’t fair to Kel’el,” Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game. “I wasn’t even frustrated. So what I’ll say is I’m fully invested in and invigorated about the opportunity to develop Kel’el, and our staff feels the same way. We’re going to give him everything we have to make sure he becomes the player that he wants to become, that we need him to become.”
So, how did Ware respond on the court Saturday?
As part of a five-man Heat bench rotation that also included Dru Smith, Nikola Jovic, Simone Fontecchio and Myron Gardner, Ware contributed seven points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from three-point range, nine rebounds and one block in 16 minutes.
Ware, who played just 8:49 in Thursday’s loss to the Celtics, played 7:41 in Saturday’s second half after being benched for the entirety of Thursday’s second half.
Gardner, who is on a two-way contract with the Heat, took advantage of a rare opportunity to play extended minutes on Saturday.
With Herro, Jaquez and Mitchell sidelined, Gardner was called on as the Heat’s 10th man and he delivered.
Gardner totaled 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting on threes, five rebounds, one assist and one block in 15 minutes on Saturday. It marked just the fourth NBA game this season that Gardner has logged double-digit minutes in, with most of his playing time coming for the Heat’s G League affiliate (the Sioux Falls Skyforce).
Gardner, 24, immediately provided a spark for the Heat with his energy after entering the game for his first action of the night with 6:21 left in the second quarter and Miami in a 12-point hole.
Gardner played the rest of the first half, totaling nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range, one rebound, one assist and one block during his first stint of the game. The Heat won those minutes by seven points, trimming that 12-point deficit when Gardner entered to five at halftime.
Gardner, who took a 5 a.m. flight from Sioux Falls to arrive in Miami for Saturday’s game, finished the win with a plus/minus of plus 6.
“Myron is our energy,” Adebayo said. “I don’t know how to like really describe Myron. You just have to hang around him. He’s the person that, he just has this kid energy. You know, kids that run around all day and you always look at them like, ‘I wish I had that much energy.’ He is that.”
Fontecchio also contributed quality minutes off the Heat’s bench, finishing the victory with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes in 18 minutes.
This story was originally published January 17, 2026 at 10:57 PM.
