Norman Powell continues to lead the charge for the 5-4 Miami Heat offensively. 23.5 points a night, 47% shooting from the field, 50% from deep, and 7 free throw attempts a night on 95% shooting.
When talking about kicking off a season with a new team, Powell is finding a tremendous amount of success in a rebuilt offense that is totally catered to his skill-set.
But when you look deeper into a lot of Powell’s hot scoring nights, there is one correlation that remains: his first quarter success.
After a historic first quarter a night ago for the Miami Heat on their way to 53 points scored, Powell’s smooth 11 points in the opening quarter jumps out. But this is nothing new.
Powell currently sits second in the entire NBA in first quarter points a game this year, with 10.2 points a night, only behind Luka Doncic who sits at 13.2 points on his way to a possible MVP type season.
Norm with 9 pts in 4 mins so far 👀 pic.twitter.com/Jm9TL9NdWw
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 8, 2025
There’s an even more impressive element to this stat. A lot of star players in the league have their substitution pattern set to playing the first 12 minutes of each half, before sitting early in the second and fourth quarters. Guys like Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic have sustained that minute distribution for some time now.
But not Powell. Out of the top 10 first quarter scorers, his minutes are the lowest. He’s playing less than 75% of the first quarter, yet maximizing his time with quick fires from deep, trips to the free throw line, and just efficient basketball with the limited dribbles he uses.
So is this early aggression by design for Powell? He seems to think he just finds his flow, knowing what it opens up for the rest of the team.
“I’m just being aggressive and the ball is going in,” Powell said on the subject of hot starts. “My focus is just making the right reads and plays and what the defense is giving me.”
Norman Powell is second in the NBA, only behind Luka Doncic, in first quarter points a game
So I asked Powell about his hot starts early in games, and if it’s by design: pic.twitter.com/E3GcXsFtCm
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 8, 2025
“It gets us going, it gets us feeling good. When I’m aggressive like that, it gets guys to find their spots,” Powell continued. “The defense starts keying in on me, not helping, and it opens up the driving lanes in our offense for other guys to create offensively.”
While the Heat are spreading the wealth around with their scoring so far this season, no doubt the only way to get to that is by Powell showcasing that early aggression. Especially without Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, the scouting reports in that opening lineup is all about Powell.
When he finds that rhythm early in a game, he’s right: the slot cuts and isolation drives start to open up for how they want to play offense.
Out of the 40 players with the most first quarter field goal attempts so far this season, there are two players that jump off the page with their efficiency. Number one is another MVP candidate Nikola Jokic at the top of that list, and number two is a guy named Norman Powell at 64.5%.
The first quarter dominance is real, and the Heat need it to continue.