Heat rally late vs. Magic but fall short, 106-105

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Dec 5, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Don’t try telling Heat coach Erik Spoelstra that the stakes will be higher when his team returns Tuesday to Kia Center for an NBA Cup game.

Friday night against the Orlando Magic still counted plenty, considering the Heat were coming off Wednesday night’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the start of this two-game trip, with losses in two of their previous three.

Keeping an upstart up means keeping pace in the win column.

This time, though, untimely turnovers, missed free throws, a lack of 3-point volume and a miss at the buzzer meant a 106-105 loss.

Even with 24 points and 15 rebounds from Bam Adebayo and 28 points from Norman Powell, the Heat struggled in the injury absence of Tyler Herro, who sat out with a toe ailment.

Lacking 3-point spacing on a night they went 7 of 19 from beyond the arc with 15 turnovers, the Heat were slowed in a 19-point third quarter and ultimately stopped from reaching their top offensive gear.

Franz Wagner led the Magic with 32 points, supported by 22 from Jalen Suggs,

Five Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:

— 1. Game flow: Despite opening 7 of 8 from the field, the Heat trailed 30-28 at the end of the opening period. The Heat then moved to a 60-57 halftime lead, after going up nine in the second quarter.

The Heat opened the second half with four turnovers in the first two minutes of the third quarter, with one point over the opening 2:54 of the half. The uneven period left the Heat down 87-79 going into the fourth.

The Magic then took the game’s first double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter on a Desmond Bane 3-pointer. Through it all, the Heat got within three midway through the fourth and again on a Jaime Jaquez Jr. layup with 1:57 to play.

After the teams traded baskets, the Heat regained possession down 106-103 with 63 seconds to play, going to Powell, whose driving layup made it 106-105 with 50 seconds remaining.

Later, with 29.9 seconds remaining, a rebounding scramble led to a jump ball on the Magic’s end.

Orlando won that tip, with Bane off on an attempt to beat the shot clock.

Powell then was off on a short jumper with 5.7 seconds remaining, with the ball going out of bounds in another rebounding scramble, with the Heat maintaining possession.

Off a timeout, Jaquez was unable to inbound, leading to the Heat’s final timeout.

With a foul to give, the Magic made the Heat reset with 3.7 seconds remaining, with Adebayo off at the buzzer.

— 2. A big deal: With Herro out with a toe irritation, the Heat returned to a big lineup, with Adebayo and Kel’el Ware both opening in the power rotation. The Heat entered 6-2 this season with the two starting together.

Back in the mix was Powell, who missed Wednesday night’s loss in Dallas with an ankle sprain.

In addition to those three, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell rounded out the starting lineup.

Even with Herro out and two of three primary power players in the starting lineup, Nikola Jovic remained out of Spoelstra’s primary rotation mix, with double-digit minutes just once in the last nine games.

— 3. He’s No. 3!: With his 14th point, which came as part of a second-quarter 3-point play, Adebayo passed Glen Rice (9,248) for third place on the Heat all-time scoring list. Up next are Alonzo Mourning (9,459) and, of course, Dwyane Wade at the top (21,556) in a class by himself.

Nine seasons into his Heat career, Adebayo also stands first in franchise history in double-doubles, second in rebounds, second in defensive rebounds, third in assists, third in field goals, third in minutes, third in triple-doubles, fourth in offensive rebounds, fourth in games, fourth in free throws, fourth in steals, fourth in turnovers and fifth in blocked shots, among other Heat leaderboards.

— 4. Down goes Powell: Twice in the first half Powell drew three-shot fouls on 3-point attempts, converting all six three throws.

Powell entered the night having drawn such three-shot fouls 12 times, second in the NBA to the 24 such three-shot fouls drawn by Clippers guard James Harden.

In the third quarter, Powell then appeared to turn the left ankle that had him out with a sprain on Wednesday night in Dallas, but he pushed through.

— 5. Next time, Cup mania: Next up between the teams is Tuesday’s NBA Cup rematch between the teams back at Kia Center at 6 p.m. (Prime Network only, no FanDuel Sports Sun).

The winner of that game advances to an NBA Cup semifinal four days later in Las Vegas.

Should the Heat lose Tuesday, they would be scheduled for an additional regular-season game either in New York or at home against Toronto, based on the result of the other Tuesday NBA Cup game between the visiting Knicks and Raptors.

Tuesday’s game will be the fifth meeting between the Heat and Magic already this season, when counting a pair of exhibitions. The teams then will still have two regular-season meetings remaining in Miami.

Prior to Tuesday night’s rematch, the Heat host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at Kaseya Center, with the Magic at New York on Sunday.