The season opener for the Miami Heat is finally upon us. They will be kicking things off in Orlando against the Magic just right up the road, and it’s finally time to see the regulars for the full 48 minutes.
We may not be seeing the entire rotation whole, as along with Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis being ruled out, the Heat downgraded Kel’el Ware to questionable just 24 hours before the game due to a sprained ankle that occured at Heat practice.
But now that they’re past evaluation time and have entered preparation time, let’s take a look at three keys in this game:
Oct 8, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic (5) warms-up before the start of the game against the San Antonio Spurs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Coming into this season, it was already apparent that the Heat are a big man injury away from being extremely thin in the front-court. With Ware’s status up in the air and Precious Achiuwa being cut from the roster, it leaves many questioning who could be the next guy in line. For starters, they’re facing a pretty big Magic front-court that consists of Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter, and Franz Wagner in the first unit. If Ware can’t go, does that leave Nikola Jovic holding down the backup five minutes when Bam Adebayo exits? Is the only other big, Vlad Goldin, going to be utilized? It definitely makes things tricky in this match-up. But the overall physicality, activity on the boards, and pure match-up stuff in the front-court will need to be strong to keep up with this team.
Oct 12, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) dribbles the ball at Orlando Magic guard Tyus Jones (2) during the first half at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
When considering both the Heat’s offensive approach and the Magic’s defensive style, it’ll land you on one specific area that jumps out: Miami’s average or below average shooters making their open threes. Orlando will do a lot of collapsing in the lane with their bigger lineups, and will force guys like Adebayo or Wiggins into kick-outs to the guys they want shooting. It’s up to Miami to make them pay. The Heat’s rotation can pretty much be categorized into shooting tiers: Norman Powell and Tyler Herro in that top elite shooting tier, Jovic and Wiggins in the second tier as shooters with upside on decent volume, then pretty much everybody else. And they’re going to need that third tier to come alive to maximize the offense. Open catch and shoot threes for Davion Mitchell, Dru Smith, Jaime Jaquez Jr, and others is the primary chance to open things up for the main guys.
Sep 29, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) speaks to WSVN 7 News Miami reporter Donovan Campbell during media day at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The Heat-Magic match-up over the years has sustained a pretty simple formula: defense, in the mud, and more defense. When two top ten defenses face each other with shaky outside shooting, it’s never going to be the cleanest game of basketball. But both of these teams have something in common: each have added a new look starting shooting guard to try and increase some of that offense and shooting, Powell for the Heat and Desmond Bane for the Magic. So a simplified way of evaluating this match-up may come down to the player who makes the biggest difference in that area. Powell may end up with the slight advantage simply due to being given the keys to the offense in a way that Bane just isn’t with Banchero and others on the roster. But with less attention on Bane and all of the attention on Powell, it leads to an intriguing battle. The Heat simply need a good offensive outing from Powell to have a chance.