Acquired in the offseason from the Los Angeles Clippers at the low, low, low price (with all due respect) of Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson (who were rerouted to the Utah Jazz in the three-team trade), Powell now has the Heat’s four highest-scoring games of the season.

The latest was Thursday night’s 36 points in the 118-112 road victory over the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena, two points off his season-high against the New York Knicks in November.

In addition to the performances against the Knicks and Pistons, Powell also had a 33-point game in November against the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 32-point game in November against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Factor in a 30-point game at the start of last month against the Clippers, and Powell stands with five of the Heat’s eight 30-point games this season (the others being 31-point outings by Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Bam Adebayo).

Thursday night’s 36-point performance largely was built off 7-of-14 3-point shooting, often manipulating the stout Detroit defense to create his own shooting space.

“He was getting so many of his points in random situations, and you need to against a good defense,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat next turning their attention to Saturday’s 5 p.m. visit by the Minnesota Timberwolves to Kaseya Center. “You can’t just always run a play call. But Norm was getting them in transition.

“He was getting them on random catch-and-goes, offense rebounds, relocations. And he has a great skill for that, and we want to lean into that.”

To Powell, it was doing what was necessary, with the Heat again without sidelined Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson.

“They were denying me, so I really had to hunt in transition to get some good looks,” Powell said. “I was able to do that throughout the course of the game.”

Sometimes, Powell said, it has to be Plan B.

“They’re going to take us out of our first and second and third options,” he said of quality opposing defenses. “So we got to be able to adjust and work the ball around and get the looks that we want.”

Most importantly during the winning streak, Powell said, is to let it roll.

“I think a lot of times around the league, when you start winning, you let things slide because you’re getting Ws,” he said. “But in winning, you can still have lessons in ways you can get better. So as long as we continue to focus on how we can continue to improve, that’s the biggest thing, you know, not letting our wins cover up all the mistakes.”

Injury report

The Heat’s injury report for Saturday features a few twists, including Keshad Johnson being sent to the G League for the first time this season.

In addition, Larsson’s ankle sprain might wind up being a one-game absence, with Larsson upgraded to questionable.

Herro, though, remains out, to miss his 12th game with a toe bruise.

Listed as probable with nagging ailments are Adebayo (back), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (thigh) and Nikola Jovic (elbow).

Remaining on G League assignment are two-way players Vlad Goldin and Jahmir Young.

On the Heat injury report but listed as available are Simone Fontecchio (ankle) and Dru Smith (elbow).

Jaquez for the W

For all Powell accomplished Thursday, it ultimately came down to an 8-foot baseline jumper from Jaquez that put it away for the Heat with 29 seconds to play, creating a four-point lead.

“Jaime really kind of just settled in, and they didn’t double, and he just got to a spot that he was very comfortable with, and he put it away,” Spoelstra said

It capped a 9-of-13, 19-point night for Jaquez.

For Jaquez, it was a matter of getting back to his basics.

“I saw everybody hugged up on their man and an opportunity to go down and make a play,” he said. “Just get into my spot that I know I’m comfortable in and just trying to win a game.”

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted the impact of Jaquez’s conversion.

“Just down the stretch they made a tough shot over the top of us that gave them a little bit of cushion,” Bickerstaff said.

It was as if a previous rendition of the Heat was back, as if Erik Spoelstra’s team was mimicking the third-quarter failures of Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, third quarters becoming the social-media snark of turd quarters.

Now?

Now third quarters of heft and substance, including in Thursday night’s road victory over the Detroit Pistons that extended the winning streak to four going into Saturday’s 5 p.m. game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center.

Addressed and answered.

The exit from the halftime locker room no longer a road to ruin.

“Well, we’ve had enough games where we were a dud out of it, and I credit the locker room,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “In our meeting on Christmas Eve, basically everybody was talking about that, that we need to have more consistency coming out of the locker room.

“We’ve had a lot of halftime leads or played great first half basketball. Even in those losses, we had so many of those games where we played really well, and then the third quarter would just do us in. And so our guys have taken that to heart to try to be more consistent throughout the course of the game.”

Thursday night, the Heat outscored the Pistons 31-27 in the third. But it was a 15-2 start to the period that let the Eastern Conference leaders know Spoelstra’s team wasn’t going to fade, the surge creating enough of a gap to help withstand a late Detroit rally within two.

From rant, to results — and maybe a bit less Spoelstra stress during intermissions.

“Definitely a conversation,” center Bam Adebayo said of the Spoelstra talking point during both the slump and now the revival. “But more so our mentality going into the third.. We feel like we have a drop off to start the third. Our coach is a maniac and he’s going to emphasize it and pick at it until we get it right.

“So we’ve been getting this right, keep this going so he can stay off our backs.”

Jaime Jaquez Jr., who again helped boost the bench, this time with 19 points on Thursday night, said getting it right in the third was the acknowledged pathway to this on ramp of success.

“I think, you know, we’re just coming out with a different energy, different mentality,” he said, one of four Heat players with 15 or more points on Thursday night. “Really just trying to assert our presence and our dominance. Especially if we have a lead going into the next half, we want to come out and be really strong.”

Forward Norman Powell, who led the Heat with 36 points, said getting it done on both ends was essential in Thursday’s third, with the Heat limiting the Pistons to .429 shooting in the quarter, including 2 of 10 on 3-pointers.

“Not every night, like I’ve said before, we’re going to score 140,” he said of what the Heat accomplished their previous two games. “Everybody wanting to see that is great, but we got some good teams here that play defense, that are physical. They’re going to take us out of our first and second and third options.

“So we’ve got to be able to adjust and work the ball around and get the looks that we wanted. I thought we did a great job throughout the course of the game doing that, not letting their physicality take us out of what we wanted to do and playing together, trusting one another through the 48.”

While the 31-point third period hardly was overwhelming by recent Heat scoring standards, finding a way to come out of the period with a 13-point lead is what Spoelstra said mattered most.

“Sometimes you just need to get some of those possessions in the mud, and we were able to get some second opportunities,” he said. “And it’s a different way for us to impact the game. Third quarters are looking much better.”

A: It was interesting that two of the game’s most influential players led their teams in turnovers on Thursday night, with Davion with five for the Heat and Cade Cunningham his seven for the Pistons. But it also showed that the two were involved, on the ball, willing to step up to the biggest moments. While Davion’s eight points fell well short of Cade’s 31, I agree that the Heat might not have escaped with the victory without Davion’s presence. He was as much a factor on the defensive for the Heat end as Cade on the offensive end for the Pistons. It was a meaningful moment for Davion.

Q: The Heat have the fourth easiest remaining schedule and injuries can change things fast. It’s way too early to say Heat can’t get a Top 2, 3 or 4 seed in the East. – Tom.

A: Going into Thursday night in Detroit, the Heat’s remaining strength of schedule was fifth easiest according to Tankathon. But also consider that NBA.com noted on Thursday that the Heat have the league’s  ninth toughest schedule for January, with both calculations based on the winning percentages of opponents. So it’s not as stacking wins is necessarily going to be simple in the short term. But to move up, you have to beat the teams above, which made Thursday night in Detroit meaningful. Now the Heat have to back it up, with a pair of upcoming games against the Timberwolves on Saturday and Tuesday. To make up ground, you have to beat the team above, with the Heat 0-1 against Boston, 0-3 against Orlando and 0-2 against Toronto so far.

Q: This year has been a rollercoaster ride. Before the season, play-in seemed the most we could hope for. Then the great start and maybe a top-four finish. Then the losing streak and back to being a play-in team. Now four wins in a row and closer to third than ninth with 40% of the season gone. I’m getting whiplash. Which Heat is the real Heat? – Howard, Hallandale Beach.

A: Not sure I know and not sure the Heat know. Remember, we have yet to fully assimilate the Tyler Herro factor, with that return expected over the next week. To this point, the only consistency has been inconsistency.

– Put aside the shooting for the moment.

– Because this wasn’t going to be about the shot-making of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.

– This was going to be about whether the Heat could hold their own against the Pistons’ incredible bulk.

– Yes, Jalen Duren was lost for the night for the Pistons in the third quarter.

– But by then, the Heat showed they wouldn’t be pushed around by Duren or Isaiah Stewart.

– Who have done plenty of pushing around this season on the Pistons’ pathway to the top of the East.

– So, yes, Adebayo 5 of 14 from the field.

– But also 14 rebounds.

– So, yes, Ware 1 of 6 from the field.

– But also 13 rebounds.

– And yes, Nikola Jovic 1 of 10 from the field.

– But add in another five rebounds.

– So no Detroit dominance on the offensive glass.

– And an impressive, muscle flex of a Heat win.

– With Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson out, the Heat again opened with a lineup of Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell. That lineup entered 4-3.

– With the appearance, Adebayo tied Alonzo Mourning for third place on the Heat’s all-time regular-season games list (593) , behind only Dwyane Wade (948) and Udonis Haslem (879).

– Ware extended his career-best run of games with multiple offensive rebounds to 15.

– With Tobias Harris out, the Pistons opened with a big lineup of their own, with  Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren.

– Detroit entered 4-0 with that lineup.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. again was first off the Heat bench.

– Nikola Jovic followed.

–  With Dru Smith and Kasparas Jakucionis then entering together to make it nine deep.

– Jakucionis’ minutes were ceded to Larsson the previous game.

– Then, late in the second quarter, Simone Fontecchio entered for his first rotation action in four games.

– Immediately draining a 3-pointer against his former team.

– Powell went in stressing that the Heat could not allow the three-game winning streak entering the night impact the team’s process.

– “I think a lot of times around the league, when you start winning, you let things slide because you’re getting Ws,” he said at the morning shootaround. “But in winning, you can still have lessons in ways you can get better. So as long as we continue to focus on how we can continue to improve, that’s the biggest thing, you know, not letting our wins cover up all the mistakes.”

– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not necessarily want to hear going in that the previous six games between the teams were decided by single digits.

– “They’ve won the last four. I’m assuming that has everybody’s attention, too,” he said.

– It did.

– Mitchell stressed going in that sharing the ball has to remain the Heat’s way.

– “A lot of teams, you’ve got one player just scoring all the points and all the other guys are kind of just roaming around,” he said. “But us, I don’t feel like we play like that. We share the ball.”

– While always making sure Powell gets his.

– Spoelstra said the goal going in was clear, “They protect the paint, they protect the rim, first in blocks, so you have to make great rim decisions when you get there.”

– Spoelstra pregame again praised the efforts of J.B. Bickerstaff in elevating the Pistons to the top of the East.

– “They’ve built this really in steps. They haven’t skipped any steps along the way. I mean, it was just a couple years ago they had a long losing streak, but you could see they’re building some habits,” he said. “Then last year, J.B. knows how to build a culture, knows how to get a team committed to an identity, and then they build those habits every single day.”

– His team having scored 140 in the previous two, Spoelstra reiterated pregame there never was a definitive goal of establishing a record-setting offense in terms of pace and other unique elements.

– “I wasn’t really thinking about trying to break records or anything,” he said. “We were just trying to put together something that makes sense for our team, that brings out the best version in our group and also that would be scalable.”

– Spoelstra also made clear pace can’t be paramount.

– “We want our fan base to be excited about the style of play,” he said. “But we also have to do whatever is necessary to win in this league.”

– And then, as always, the cautionary from Spoelstra, “If it’s in the mud or if it’s not going fluidly, you still have to find a way to overcome and get the win.”

– The game was the Heat’s lone visit of the season.

– The game was the first of 17 for the Heat in January, the most for any month this season and tying for the most games during the month of January in franchise history (also 17 in January 2016, 2012 and 2010).

– The Heat are now 8-3 on New Year’s Day over the franchise’s 37 seasons.

So make it a four-game winning streak, this time with a 118-112 New Year’s victory Thursday night over the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

Against the best team in the Eastern Conference, an opponent that had lost only twice previously at home this season, the Heat got off to the races with their running game and opened their 2026 schedule with arguably their most impressive victory of the season.

“This is a good start to 2026,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ll take it.”

With Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson sidelined for the Heat, Norman Powell again took charge of the Heat offense, closing with 36 points, enough to offset the 31 of Detroit’s Cade Cunningham.

Up 22 earlier, the Heat saw the lead trimmed to two in the final minute, before holding on, in more of a grind-out win than the previous outbursts during this winning streak.

“I think this was an important one for us to get because this wasn’t a game where we put 140 on the board,” Spoelstra said.

It was yet another night of across-the-board contributions from Spoelstra’s team. Beyond Powell’s scoring, the Heat got 19 points from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and 17 from Andrew Wiggins. There also were 14 rebounds from Adebayo and 13 from Kel’el Ware, as well as 11 assists from Davion Mitchell.

So another win, finding a way, even if a bit less fluid.

“Guys are making plays,” Wiggins said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

And, so, onward, with Jaquez already a step toward his New Year’s resolution, “to win a lot of games.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:

1. Game flow: Aided by a 14-0 run late in the first period, the Heat went into the second quarter up 33-26. After the Pistons regained the lead in the second period, the Heat pushed back for a 63-54 halftime lead.

The Heat then string together a 15-0 run early in the third period and went up 22 in the quarter, before taking a 94-81 lead into the fourth.

The Pistons trimmed their deficit to 98-92 early in the fourth and within 114-109 with 1:06 to play on an Ausar Thompson transition basket, capping a 10-2 Detroit run.

A Javonte Green 3-pointer later would make it a 114-112 game, before Jaquez responded with a jumper for a 116-112 Heat lead with 28.9 seconds left.

“Just trying to, you know, win a game,” Jaquez said of his baseline basket.

A steal by Mitchell followed on the ensuing Pistons inbounds pass, with Powell converting a pair of free throws on the other end to close the scoring.

“We were able to snap back into how we needed to be defensively,” Powell said, “and buckle down and get the stops we needed.”

2. Powell play: Powell was up to 19 points by halftime, matching Cunningham’s first-half output for the Pistons.

Powell scored 11 of the Heat’s final 13 points of the second quarter, following up with 15 points in the third.

He closed 12 of 23 from the field, including 7 of 14 in 3-pointers.

Spoelstra credited Powell with doing plenty on his own against a team committed to halfcourt defense.

“Norm through three quarters was getting so many of his points in random situations, and you need to against a good defense,” Spoelstra said. “You can’t just always run a play call.”

Powell extended his streak of games scoring in double figures to 32, dating to last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, three games off the longest such run of his career.

“I really had to hunt in transition to get some good looks,” Powell said. “I was able to do that throughout the course of the game.”

3. Big things: With Herro and Larsson out for the Heat, and with Tobias Harris and Caris LeVert out for the Pistons, both teams opened big.

That had Detroit bulk of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart matched at the outset against the Heat’s length of Ware and Adebayo.

The Heat’s opening unit was rounded out by Powell, Wiggins and Mitchell.

The Pistons size then was downsized when Duren was lost for the night with a sprained right ankle initially sustained in the second period.

The Heat closed with a 47-41 rebounding advantage, including a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass.

“Bam and Kel’el were just terrific and physical on the glass,” Spoelstra said. “We knew we’d have to bring a physical edge.”

Adebayo finished with 15 points, Ware with four.

“Trying to shift the mindset when you’re not necessarily shooting well,” Adebayo said of the collective Heat board work that also included eight from Wiggins.

4. Hail Jaime: A game after going for 11 assists, it was eyes back on the rim for Jaquez, who was up to 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting by halftime.

Jaquez has now scored at least 16 in each of his last four games, one point shy of his fifth 20-point game in the last six.

He finished 9 of 13 from the field, with five rebounds, and that final Heat basket.

5. A Cunningham rerun: In the teams’ previous meeting, a 138-135 Pistons victory on Nov. 29 in Miami, Cunningham closed with 29 points, eight assists, four rebounds and eight turnovers.

This time, in addition to his 31 points, Cunningham had 11 assists, eight rebounds and seven turnovers.

The difference is Cunningham also shot 17 of 18 from the line this time, after going 0 for 1 from the line in the teams’ previous meeting. Until Thursday, Cunningham had never had more than seven free throws against the Heat.

But he also was just 6 of 16 from the field, with Adebayo praising the Heat’s ability to mix and mask coverages.

“That’s the thing,” Adebayo said. “Make it difficult. Switch the coverage up, even if it’s still pick and roll. Blitz him sometimes. Sometimes you send a double. Make him keep thinking throughout the game where it’s unpredictable.”

This season, the third-year Miami Heat swingman is making sure that everyone eats.

After averaging 2.6 and 2.5 assists, respectively, in his first two seasons, Jaquez went into Thursday averaging 4.1, as part of his overall revival, amid his candidacy for NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

“He has an ability to get downhill, get into the paint, use his physicality,” coach Erik Spoelstra said ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. “But, you know, the next layer of it is understanding that teams adjust and they bring a second defender, and he’s really been working at understanding where the open guys are and not predetermining anything.

“He’s been watching film on it, and he’s really improved quite a bit since last year.”

Jaquez said Thursday it’s all about a measured approach.

“I think it all depends on if I get stopped,” Jaquez said of moving into playmaking mode. “I’m just taught to go in and attack until you get stopped. And if you get stopped, that’s the appropriate time to turn and probably kick out and make a play.

“So that’s really what I’m looking for. If I’m able to get to the rim and finish, then I do that.”

At times earlier in his career, Jaquez solely had eyes on the rim. Now there is the vision and insight to play to the strengths of those alongside in the second unit.

“I think definitely just trying to get the defender on their toes,” the 2023 first-round pick out of  UCLA said of persevere or pass. “If they don’t know where I’m going, it makes my job a lot easier, using confusion, deception, all sorts of things.

“And also just trying to be physical, physical as a ball handler, as an attacker, being able to use my body.”

Pace, pace, pace

As relentlessly as Spoelstra wants his team playing, he relentlessly has been stressing that factor, including going into Thursday night’s game.

“It’s the start for sure, for everything,” he said of pressing the pace. “It just gets us in the right mentality to do tough things. The more reckless, you know, disruptive we can be, the better our defense is.

“It sets up our entire game, but it requires that mental and physical energy. I mentioned we become an average team if we don’t play fast. We become an average defense if we don’t play reckless with the physicality and everybody connected together.”

Respects paid

The Heat made clear going into Thursday the respect for what the Pistons have accomplished in their climb to the top of the conference.

“We know what they’ve done in the East,” Spoelstra said. “We know where we want to go in the East. We want to be where we want to be, and we’ve got to beat the teams that are ahead of us.”

The respect also was in place for the continued breakout of Pistons guard Cade Cunningham.

“He gets the game on his terms and his pace,” Spoelstra said. “He gets them running when they want to run. He gets them executing half-court when he wants to slow the game down.”

Injury upgrade

Previously listed as questionable due to inflammation of his left ankle, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio was cleared at midday Thursday to be available against his former team, after sitting out Wednesday’s practice at Kaseya Center.

Fontecchio was acquired in the offseason in the deal that sent Duncan Robinson from the Heat to the Pistons in a sign-and-trade transaction.

Out Thursday for the Heat were Tyler Herro (toe) and Pelle Larsson (ankle), who remained in South Florida for the one-game trip, and two-way players Vlad Goldin and Jahmir Young, who remain on assignment in the G League.

The story at the moment is the same.

Only it’s not — because the spacing big man hasn’t been Bam Adebayo, but rather Kel’el Ware.

And the degree of efficiency has been hard to ignore.

Entering Thursday’s play, the 7-foot Ware not only was leading all NBA centers in 3-point percentage (among those with the minimum required qualifying attempts), but stood fourth overall among all players.

As in .473.

As in better than Nikola Jokic, Brook Lopez, Karl-Anthony Towns among centers. As in well ahead of fellow Heat big man Bam Adebayo, who entered Thursday 158th among all players and 11th among centers in 3-point percentage, at .318. As in 79 percentage points better than 3-point icon Stephen Curry.

So who saw this coming?

“I would say I did,” Ware said, before turning his attention to Thursday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. “I work on my shot. I have faith in my shot, enough to let it go and trust that it’s going to go in.”

Last season, Ware drained 35 3-pointers as a rookie, on .315 from beyond the arc. As a collegian, Ware made a combined 32 3-pointers in his two seasons. But after shooting .273 from beyond the arc as a freshman at Oregon, he was up to .425 as a sophomore at Indiana.

All the while, there was a comfort from the arc dating to his prep days.

“I had a coach growing up that wasn’t like that,” Ware said of big men being planted solely in the post. “He would always let me play around the perimeter. He didn’t limit me to one role, one spot.”

While Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hasn’t limited him, either, there is an understanding of where Ware’s primary residence should be.

“I feel like I’ve got a feel now,” Ware said of his middle ground with Spoelstra. “I’m mostly in the paint most of the game, so I feel like it’s not really that much of a big deal when I’m out, as long as we’re not five out or anything like that, as long as somebody is under there while I’m out.”

For the most part, Spoelstra has attempted to avoid giving too much legs to the notion of Ware as 3-point shooter.

“I want to be open to the development of our young players,” Spoelstra said. “Like I said, in training camp, there’s an element of unknown. But I want there to be some surprises. I want guys to improve. I want them to gain confidence as the season goes on. Young players, it doesn’t happen for every single one of them at the exact same time. And it doesn’t happen as linear growth. So I want to be open to that growth.

“He spent a lot of time on his shooting. I don’t want to overcoach that, because he has great touch. Because of how we do things, he’ll be out there (at the 3-point line). And sometimes he’ll be inside. I want him to be efficient in both areas. But I do want him to have confidence. His game is improving and he’s finding more ways to impact winning.”

For now, Spoelstra won’t go as far as to detail whether there are 3-point sets in place or being installed for Ware.

“I’m not going to over-talk it. I’m not. Because how does it help us to walk through every step of our offense to you guys,” Spoelstra said during a post-practice media session. “The general part of it is I want him to gain confidence. We’re coaching him hard in the details.”

With a seeming appreciation from Ware of the when and the where.

“I pick and choose when I want to go out there,” Ware said. “Normally, I’m in the paint more of the game. But whenever I pop out, I feel like I’m warm enough to hit a three.

“I’ve been putting in work, and I feel like I’m comfortable in my shot and being able to shoot.”

A: No, you develop by developing, which can be done in practice or the G League. What you don’t want is for such a player to grow stagnant by sitting. Erik Spoelstra addressed this after practice on Wednesday, citing the value of having Kasparas Jakucionis around the team, learning from the team’s veterans. As it is, with Pelle Larsson now out with another ankle sprain, Kasparas likely will be back in the mix on Thursday  night in Detroit. The real question will be what happens when Tyler Herro returns. At that point, Kasparas likely will be sent back to the G League for the type of consistent minutes that won’t be available with the Heat (barring another injury elsewhere on the roster).

 Q: Ira, you point out when the Heat move out of the play-in, but you don’t when they fall back. It has to be more than just getting No. 6. – Eric.

A: Oh, don’t kid yourself, after three straight seasons in the play-in, No. 6 seed would be fine, even if it could mean facing a Celtics roster that gets Jayson Tatum back for the postseason, Again, not selling Erik Spoelstra or this Heat roster short, but it will be a challenge to finish in the top six in the East, when considering they aren’t catching the Pistons and Knicks, likely won’t catch the Celtics, and then face the daunting challenges of closing ahead of the Cavaliers, 76ers and Magic, let alone the Raptors. The irony is the Heat close their regular season April 12 at home against the Hawks, which could be for play-in seeding.

Q: Hi, Ira. Bam Adebayo, with your elite athletic skills and size, you should be a force in the paint. You should be near the top of the league in offensive rebounding, not 96th. You should be feared protecting the rim. I don’t know if it’s your desire to be more like … Jayson Tatum? But, eight years into your career, your coaches are failing you by not maximizing your talent. I love Bam. He appears to be a great guy, a great leader. He has great footwork, strength, and effort. It’s fine that in today’s game he shoots some threes, some inside-the-foul-line jumpers (although when he misses there is invariably no one there to rebound). But I don’t understand what the coaches are trying to get out of Bam. At this point in his career, he is not a go-to scorer. – Ed.

A: Nor is anyone expecting him to be. At this point the Heat have to get to a place where there is a comfort in Bam Adebayo being someone who scores in the teens, and move on from there. Counting on him to be one of your leading scorers is misguided.

So there was the second-year Heat guard again working on the side at practice Wednesday at Kaseya Center, ruled out for Thursday night’s road game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

And likely beyond.

This time it’s a sprained right ankle, after missing five games in mid-December with a sprained left ankle.

“I mean, I just keep stepping on people’s foot, and, yeah, just getting a little bit unlucky at the moment,” said Larsson, who was lost for the night at the start of the fourth quarter of Monday night’s victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets.

At the moment of his injury, Larsson was just regaining his stride from his previous ankle issue, having scored 21 and 16 points in the two previous games before going out.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s frustrating of course in the moment,” he said. “But fortunately this is one that wasn’t as bad. So I mean, I’m already doing a lot more than I was doing with the other one.”

In this case, Larsson could wind up missing more games but less time. The previous ankle sprain came amid the NBA Cup scheduling that had the Heat off for extended stretches, missing those five games over an 11-day span. This time, the Heat will play five games over the next eight days.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the fact that Larsson was on the practice court Wednesday was encouraging.

“It’s part of the NBA, you know,” Spoelstra said of Larsson having to deal with back-to-back injuries. “He’s able to do some work here right now.

“We’re encouraged that it didn’t look like the last one.”

So is Larsson.

“Comparing how it was when it happened now and then, it’s much better. So I’m expecting less time out,” Larsson said, with no MRI required this time.

“I mean, Doc kind of ruled that out pretty quick when we were already at the game. So, and I kind of felt that, too, just the way, the pain level and stuff.”

On the irony of one step forward literally one back with the other ankle, Larsson smiled.

“You know, I don’t know, maybe it’s a family thing because my brother sprained both his ankles the same day this summer when he was playing basketball,” the upbeat Swede said.

Beyond Larsson, also not practicing Wednesday were Tyler Herro and Simone Fontecchio.

Like Larsson, Herro did not travel to Detroit, which will be his 11th game missed with a contusion of his right big toe.

Fontecchio did travel after sitting out Wednesday’s practice due to an inflamed left ankle.

The Jakucionis issue

Monday’s victory marked the first time in seven games that rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis did not see rotation time, utilized only for the final three minutes of the blowout victory over the Nuggets that extended the Heat’s winning streak to three.

Spoelstra had previously stressed the importance of last June’s No. 20 pick out of Illinois seeing consistent court time, be it with the Heat or in the G League.

“All of it’s important,” Spoelstra said of weighing time with the Heat versus robust playing time with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. “The eight games that he had in Sioux Falls was important. The time with us is important. The player development is important.

“In a perfect world, yeah, he’s playing. But also being around and being available, you know, also helps with the mental part of it.”

With Larsson out, the playing time could be back Thursday.

Spoelstra said Jakucionis is handling the shuffling well for a 19 year old.

“I still marvel at the fact that he’s a teenager and how he carries himself with the maturity,” Spoelstra said, “And his approach, you know, is very unique.”

For the better part of the franchise’s 37 previous seasons, the touchstone was the defense, certainly during these past three decades of the Pat Riley Era.

To a degree, it still is, with the Heat going into Thursday’s New Year’s game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena with the No. 4 defensive rating in the NBA.

But it is the offensive explosions, the ones that came at the start of this season and have returned over the past week, that have turned heads.

No, these are not your parents’ Miami Heat.

Or even last season’s Miami Heat.

As a matter of perspective, entering this season, the Heat had scored 140 or more points eight times over their 37 seasons:

153 vs. New Orleans Pelicans, April 11, 2025

149 vs. Denver Nuggets, March 19, 2018

144 vs. Houston Rockets, April 5, 2022

142 vs. Portland Trail Blazers, March 29, 2024

142 vs. Indiana Pacers, Nov. 30, 2023

141 vs. Golden State Warriors, Feb. 27, 2019

141  vs. Sacramento Kings. Feb. 25, 1991 (2OT)

140 vs. Charlotte Hornets, Jan. 20, 2007

That’s it.

Eight times in 37 seasons.

This season?

This season, seven already, less than halfway through the schedule, including in each of the past two games:

147 vs. Denver Nuggets, Monday

146 vs. Memphis Grizzlies, Oct. 24

144 vs. Charlotte Hornets, Oct. 28

143 vs. Chicago Bulls, November 21

142 vs. Indiana Pacers, Friday

140 vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Dec. 1

140 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, Nov. 10, (OT)

That’s seven times out of 33 games.

When the going has been good in the pace race installed by Erik Spoelstra, it has allowed the good times to roll, the Heat 7-0 when scoring 140 this season (14-0 all-time, for that matter).

There was a point a few weeks back when there were calls to trash the high-octane approach, with little premium about the results in the standings, as the Heat fell back to .500. That also was a time when the Heat were cycling through a series of injuries and absences.

But to a man, the players insisted this week it wasn’t the system, but rather getting away from the tenets of the system.

“It’s been a huge emphasis just since training camp,” guard Norman Powell said. “And obviously, when you’re down a couple bodies, it’s kind of hard to keep that pace up. But that’s the style that we want to continue to play with. I think it rises everybody’s skill set and potential with this offense and how we want to play every single night — makes, misses, getting out of transition, hunting for easy looks, quick attacks when the defense isn’t set up.

“And it complements everybody’s skill set.”

Center Bam Adebayo, who had missed two games with back pain before jumping back into the offensive free-for-all that was Monday night’s 147-123 victory over the Nuggets at Kaseya Center, said it is particularly sating when everybody eats.

“I mean, the proof is in the pudding,” he said. “Obviously, when we play with pace, we play off of rebounds, we defend and get stops, we can score 147. As you can see, everybody feels involved because we’re getting that many more possessions.”

By now, opponents know it’s coming. But to Spoelstra that does not matter if offered with intention, aggression, relentlessness.

“The slower we play, I think the more average we become,” he said. “Regardless of whether teams scout us and try to prepare for it, it’s got to feel different when you actually play against it. And it requires mental and physical energy and commitment every single night, which we’re fully capable of. We’ve got a deep roster.”

The lesson through the first 33 games essentially has been pace or perish.

“I think you can see that when we do reach those numbers, we are getting stops, we are flying around, we are being active, we are holding each other accountable on both sides of the ball and making sure we’re getting the best looks possible,” said Powell, who is leading the Heat at 23.8 points per game.

“We just got to continue to work through those lulls in the game as it goes through its ebbs and flows, its runs. We know we’re playing against the best basketball players in the world, so the opposing team is going to go on runs. But as long as we continue to hold on to the rope and fight together, we’re going to give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”

As much as anything, Powell said it is the relentlessness.

“I think we figured it out and just the play style and the mentality and approach that we have to have on a nightly basis,” he said. “We can’t get bored with the process.”