Norman Powell #24 of the Miami Heat dribbles against Noah Clowney #21 of the Brooklyn Nets during the second half at Barclays Center on December 18, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Heat won 106-95.
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Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 106-95 win against the Brooklyn Nets (7-19) on Thursday night at Barclays Center to snap its five-game skid and open a three-game trip. The Heat (15-12) is right back at it on Friday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Friday to complete the back-to-back set (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun):
It didn’t come easy, but the Heat held on against the rebuilding Nets for its first win in nearly three weeks.
Thursday’s victory snapped the Heat’s five-game losing skid and marked the Heat’s first win since Dec. 1.
But the Heat, which was without Tyler Herro because of a toe contusion, did not make it easy on itself against a Nets team that entered with a poor 7-18 record.
The Heat actually led by only two points when center Bam Adebayo was forced to exit the game after picking up his fifth foul with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter.
The Heat managed to hold on for the victory, though, despite not having Adebayo for the game-deciding stretch.
After Adebayo was substituted out, the Heat went on a 14-5 run to extend its lead to 11 points with 4:01 to play and finally pull away from the Nets.
The Heat pulled ahead by as many as 12 points in the final minutes, and never needed to substitute Adebayo back into the game.
“I was going to bring Bam back,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But once we got it to double digits, then I thought we were going to be able to pull away. We were never able to get it to 15, but I thought Kel’el [Ware] was playing well. And Bam felt that it was good too for Kel’el to have that opportunity to finish a game where there’s a little bit of context to it. So I think that’s all really important for his growth and improvement.”
Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Heat guard Norman Powell scored seven of his team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Heat sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored six of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
“I was just as curious as probably a lot of Heat Nation was on how we would finish it off offensively, and I thought there was a good process,” Spoelstra said. “Guys stepped up and made some big shots. Kel’el played well down the stretch. Norm just settles us at key moments. Jaime chipped in.”
The Heat’s defense also limited the Nets to just 22 points on 34.8% shooting from the field and 3-of-13 (23.1%) shooting from three-point range in the fourth quarter.
But it was a closer game than the final score indicated.
The Heat led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but only entered halftime ahead by five.
The Nets continued to keep it close during a competitive third quarter that included four lead changes and three times, entering the fourth quarter trailing by only four points.
But in the end, the Nets just couldn’t score enough points against the Heat’s defense. Brooklyn scored a season-low 95 points, shooting just 38.8% from the field and 11 of 49 (22.4%) from three-point range.
Thursday marked just the second time this season that the Heat has held its opponent to less than 100 points. Miami is 2-0 in those games.
“I thought there were some really good things defensively,” Spoelstra said. “It was a throwback defensive game for us to hold them under 100 [points] and under 40 percent [shooting from the field].”
This type of defensive performance was needed, considering the Heat’s once high-scoring offense scored just 106 points on Thursday. Miami was averaging 124.3 points through its first 21 games, but is averaging 105.7 points during the last six games.
“We hang our hat on that side,” Adebayo said of the Heat’s defense. “That’s why we won today, we got stops. And the offense wasn’t pretty at times, but we got stops at the end of the day. So if we can stop them more than they can stop us, then we got a good chance of winning.”
Nic Claxton #33 of the Brooklyn Nets goes to the basket as Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat defends during the first half at Barclays Center on December 18, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Sarah Stier Getty Images
With Herro missing his fourth game in the last five games because of his toe injury, the Heat brought back its double-big starting lineup for Thursday’s contest in Brooklyn.
The Heat opened Thursday’s game with a lineup anchored by the double-big frontcourt of Adebayo and Ware, alongside Davion Mitchell, Powell and Andrew Wiggins.
Thursday marked the 11th game this season that the Heat has used the starting frontcourt of Adebayo and Ware, but this one was especially noteworthy after Spoelstra went away from this pairing in the previous two games. Instead, Adebyo started and Ware played as a reserve in the past two games.
This came in the wake of Spoelstra publicly challenging the Adebayo-Ware pairing to produce better results, saying earlier this month that “I just want to see that group, when we play bigger, just for it to be a plus.”
Entering Thursday’s game against the Nets, the Heat had been outscored by a lopsided 13.2 points per 100 possessions in the 127 minutes that the 6-foot-9 Adebayo and 7-foot Ware had played together this season. Among the Heat’s 42 two-man combinations who entered Thursday with at least 100 minutes logged together this season, the Adebayo-Ware combo owned the worst net rating.
But the Adebayo-Ware starting lineup began Thursday’s game strong, as the Heat opened the contest on a 23-15 run before Adebayo was subbed out with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
Ware put together a solid performance on Thursday, too. He recorded 22 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high four blocks while posting a positive plus/minus of plus 5 in 30 minutes in the win.
“Everybody was encouraged by the game that he had tonight,” Spoelstra said of Ware.
For Adebayo, it was a rough shooting night (eight points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field) and he didn’t play the final 7:20 of the game after picking up his fifth foul. But Adebayo still grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds while contributing one steal and three blocks and posting a plus/minus of plus-12 in the win.
“That was about as impactful an eight-point game as you can have in terms of how it impacted winning, but also impacted a locker room,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo.
Along with missing Herro, the Heat was also without Nikola Jovic (right elbow contusion/laceration), Pelle Larsson (left ankle sprain), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Nets.
The Heat’s injury issues also led to rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis logging his first meaningful NBA minutes.
Thursday wasn’t Jakucionis’ NBA debut. That came in the Heat’s blowout win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 1, but Jakucionis only played the final 53.7 seconds of that 17-point victory.
Jakucionis actually logged meaningful minutes on Thursday for the first time in his NBA career, playing off the bench and entering with 4:20 left in the first quarter.
Jakucionis also scored the first points of his NBA career in Brooklyn, hitting his first shot of the game on a corner three-pointer with 2:10 left in the first quarter.
Jakucionis, who was selected by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, finished Thursday’s win with three points and one assist in eight minutes. That first-half stint was Jakucionis’ only playing time of the game, as he did not play in the second half.
“I thought he gave us a good boost,” Spoelstra said of Jakucionis. “We’re down guys right now. Kas gives us the energy, the competitiveness. He makes things happen. He’s gotten a lot better, a lot more comfortable in what we’re trying to do. I thought those minutes were good.”
Even after Thursday’s NBA opportunity, most of the 19-year-old Jakucionis’ reps so far this season have come in the G League.
Before rejoining the Heat on Dec. 7, Jakucionis averaged 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 42% from the field and 32.6% from three-point range in eight G League appearances for the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Jakucionis was part of a Heat bench rotation on Thursday that also included Jaquez, Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio.
“The most important thing is that we won after a losing streak of quite a lot of games,” Jakucionis said, downplaying his first meaningful NBA minutes. “So that was the most important thing for today.”
Powell was initially listed as questionable for Thursday’s game because of left calf discomfort. But good thing for the Heat, Powell played against the Nets.
After missing Wednesday’s practice because of his calf issue, Powell was one of the stars of Thursday’s game.
Powell was a force from the start, totaling 10 points in the first 4:12 of the game.
Powell went on to score a team-high 15 points for the Heat in the first half, capping off his strong half by hitting a 41-footer at the halftime buzzer.
Powell ended the night with a team-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 shooting on threes and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, two assists and three steals. He also recorded a team-best plus/minus of plus 14 in the victory.
Thursday’s matchup against the Nets served as a reminder that the Heat traded forward Haywood Highsmith this past offseason to escape the luxury tax.
The Heat traded Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to the Nets in August for a protected 2026 second-round selection in a move that was made to bring Miami out of luxury-tax territory. The 2026 second-round selection that the Heat got from the Nets in the deal may not even convey, as it’s protected from the 31st overall through the 55th overall pick.
Haywood’s story as an overlooked undrafted prospect still resonates with Spoelstra.
After playing in 100 G League games and spending the 2020-21 season in the German Basketball Bundesliga, Highsmith initially joined the Heat in the middle of the 2021-22 season on a 10-day contract during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had played in just five regular-season NBA games prior to signing with Miami.
Highsmith, 29, carved out a role for himself as a capable three-and-D rotation player during his time with the Heat. In his four seasons with the Heat, Highsmith appeared in 213 regular-season games (80 starts) and played in 35 playoff games (zero starts).
“The fact that he initially joined our team during that COVID year, when we really only had seven players during that Texas trip,” Spoelstra said before Thursday’s game, reflecting on Highsmith’s time with the Heat. “He made enough of an impression on us that we gave everything we had as a staff to develop him. He gave us everything he had, and he’s carving out a nice role in this league. It shows a lot of perseverance on his part. He had to go through the G League for several years before he even had that opportunity. You just really respect guys that take that kind of journey.”
Highsmith did not play Thursday and has yet to play this season. He’s still recovering from August surgery that he underwent to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee.
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM.
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Anthony Chiang
Miami Herald
Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.
