Heat’s inconsistency continues in bad home loss to tanking Jazz. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 115-111 loss to the Utah Jazz (17-37) on Monday night at Kaseya Center to complete a back-to-back set. The Heat (28-27) now hits the road to take on the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday before entering the All-Star break:
After earning a road win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the Heat had an opportunity on Monday to win only its second set of consecutive games since the start of 2026. But the inconsistent Heat couldn’t pull it off, not even against the tanking Jazz.
The Heat led by 15 points with 4:33 left in the first quarter and still lost to a Jazz team that held out three starters in the fourth quarter.
How?
“Look, I know how it looks,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the team’s latest setback. “I mean, first of all, the team that they played through the first three quarters is vastly different than the team we played in Salt Lake. They presented some different challenges with the size in terms of our driving and attacking game, our rebounding. And then in the fourth quarter, it just became a game. “
After the Heat took that early 15-point lead, the Jazz completely flipped the game. Utah closed the first half on a 52-28 run to take a nine-point lead into halftime.
Despite outscoring the Jazz 33-15 from three-point range in the first two quarters, the Heat still trailed by nine at halftime because it committed 12 turnovers and grabbed seven fewer offensive rebounds than the Jazz. That led to Utah winning the possession battle to take 12 more field-goal attempts and five more free throws than Miami in the first half.
After the Heat cut that nine-point halftime deficit to three at the end of the third quarter, the tanking Jazz then sat three starters the rest of the way in an effort to lose the game.
The Jazz, which only keeps its first-round selection this year if it’s between the first overall pick and the eighth overall pick in the 2026 draft, held out starters Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic for the entire fourth quarter.
When asked if he was close to putting Markkanen and/or Jackson back into the game down the stretch, Jazz coach Will Hardy said matter factly: “I wasn’t.”
But the Jazz somehow still held on for the victory against a Heat team desperate for wins.
After the Heat pulled ahead by three points with 1:46 to play, Isaiah Collier made a 12-foot jumper to trim the deficit to one with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Then following a Bam Adebayo miss, Brice Sensabaugh hit a three-pointer to put the Jazz back ahead by two points with 46.8 seconds remaining.
The Heat never regained the lead, as Andrew Wiggins missed an 11-footer with 35.9 seconds to play that would have tied the game.
The Heat still had another opportunity to win or tie the game after Collier missed a shot to keep the Jazz’s lead at two points.
But following a timeout, Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis missed a corner three that would have given the Heat the lead with 7.2 seconds remaining.
The Heat was then forced to intentionally foul Sensabaugh, who made both free throws to push the Jazz’s lead to four points and seal the win.
“Kas missed a very makeable three at the end,” Spoelstra said. “Sometimes it’s make or miss. But we had our opportunities to grind out and get some defensive stops. It would have been pretty ugly down the stretch. Our guys were gassed. Our guys really laid it out there.
“I know what that sounds like, playing against a team with their record. But we’re coming off of three [games] in four [days], and guys injured, out, and Kel’el [Ware] got in foul trouble.”
The Heat, which was outscored 54-30 in the paint, shot just 41.8 percent from the field, 15 of 45 (33.3 percent) on threes and 30 of 44 (68.2 percent) from the foul line.
Wiggins scored a game-high 26 points for the Heat.
Adebayo added 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Miami.
Markkanen (17 points and eight rebounds), Jackson (22 points and five rebounds) and Nurkic (10 points and 16 rebounds) combined for 49 points and 29 rebounds on Monday before being held out of the fourth quarter.
“We got to figure out how to consistently win games,” Adebayo said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a back-to-back, four games in five nights, whatever it is. We’ve got to find a way to win against teams that are, I guess you can say, trying to lose.”
The Heat’s up-and-down play continues, as it has still won only consecutive games once since the start of 2026.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said when asked why the Heat hasn’t been able to string together wins in recent weeks. “We’re working on it. That’s all I can tell Heat Nation. Man, it’s a dedicated group. And I know there’s a resolve to forge ahead after disappointing games.”
The Heat’s injury issues continued Monday. Miami had just 11 available players on Monday, which led to it going with its 19th different starting lineup of the season.
The Heat was without three rotation players in Tyler Herro (ribs), Norman Powell (low back tightness) and Pelle Larsson (right forearm strain) against the Jazz.
The Heat was also without Vlad Goldin (G League), Keshad Johnson (G League) and Terry Rozier (not with team) on Monday.
While Herro has been out for the last month, Monday only marked the second straight game that Larsson has missed with his forearm issue. It also marked Powell’s first missed game after exiting Sunday’s win over the Wizards early because of low back tightness.
This led to the Heat going with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Simone Fontecchio, Wiggins, Adebayo and Ware against the Jazz. It’s the 19th different starting unit that the Heat has used through the first 55 games of the season.
It was a rough shooting night for Fontecchio, who finished the loss with nine points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 shooting from behind the arc.
After their most positive performance together of the season in Sunday’s victory over the Wizards, Adebayo and Ware started together for first time in more than a month on Monday. But Ware’s foul trouble limited their minutes.
The Heat turned to the double-big Adebayo-Ware frontcourt on Sunday for the first time since Jan. 6, and the double-big lineup produced ultra-positive minutes amid a shaky season together.
Prior to Sunday, the Heat had been outscored by 7.5 points per 100 possessions in the 266 minutes that the 6-foot-9 Adebayo and 7-foot Ware had played together this season.
But on Sunday, the Heat dominated the Wizards by 32 points in the 16 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together. Ware was used in a reserve role in that contest.
On Monday, Adebayo and Ware were in the starting lineup together for the first time since Jan. 6.
Adebayo and Ware again turned in positive minutes, as the Heat outscored the Jazz by 15 points in the nine minutes they played together on Monday.
But their time together was limited against the Jazz, as Ware played just 14 minutes because of foul trouble.
Ware finished Monday’s loss with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, six rebounds and one steal prior to fouling out with 10:55 left in the fourth quarter.
“That’s part of the learning is learning how to do things with technique and not get the hands in there, which has been an issue versus the aggressive players,” Spoelstra said of Ware’s foul trouble. “And also the rebounding. That’s the challenge I’ve said about that double-big lineup, it’s got to be a great rebounding lineup. But we’re a better rebounding team when we don’t go double-big. And that’s frustrating, but it will change. They both want to make that work, and we work on it constantly with Kel’el.”
Jakucionis keeps making threes, but he missed an important one in the final seconds.
After going a perfect 6 of 6 from three-point range in Sunday’s win over the Wizards to become the Heat rookie with the most made threes in a game without a miss in franchise history, the 19-year-old Jakucionis made his first three three-point attempts on Monday.
Jakucionis closed Monday’s loss with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 shooting on threes in 32 minutes off the bench. But he missed his final three-point attempt of the night that would have given the Heat a one-point advantage with 7.2 seconds to play.
“He’s been amazing,” Wiggins said of Jakucionis’ recent play. “Both sides of the floor. Picking up full court, hitting big shots. He’s been big time for us. So shout out to him. Obviously he didn’t make the [last] shot tonight, but I missed a shot way before that. It happens, and we’re going to trust him again.”
Jakucionis is now an impressive 36 of 77 (46.8 percent) on threes this season.
Jakucionis, who was taken by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in last year’s draft, was part of a Heat bench rotation that also included Jaime Jaquez Jr., Dru Smith, Myron Gardner and Nikola Jovic on Monday. The only available Heat player who didn’t get into the game was two-way contract guard Jahmir Young.
The Heat still isn’t offering a timetable for Herro’s return.
Herro missed his 14th straight game because of a rib injury on Monday. It marked the 44th game that Herro has been unavailable for through the first 55 games of the Heat’s season.
When asked for an update on Herro’s recovery prior to Monday’s contest, Spoelstra said there’s still no timetable for his return.
“I don’t have a timeline, but I can tell you he is making progress and he’s doing what he needs to do behind the scenes,” Spoelstra said Monday. “And we’ll just continue to treat him. And when there is an update, I’ll let you know.”
The team is listing Herro’s injury as “right costochondral; injury to the ribs.”
Herro missed the first 17 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgery, 13 games because of a toe contusion and now 14 straight games because of a rib injury.
Herro, who is eligible for an extension this upcoming offseason, has averaged 21.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and one steal per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from three-point range in his 11 appearances this season.
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 10:22 PM.
