As the Miami Heat took on the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, leading to a 123-111 win, the team now enters a much-needed All-Star break, looking to hopefully get back a healthy roster and have a positive end to the season. After the Heat lost to the tanking Utah Jazz last Monday, the team desperately needed to head into the break on a good note, and now that's done, they're looking to turn the page to finish the season.
There's no denying that Miami needs this break, as after starting hot at 14-7, the team would then go 15-20, struggling to win consecutive games in 2026, only having done it once. However, head coach Erik Spoelstra would say the team is “looking forward” to the break and how there are positive signs to improve with the team being fourth in defensive rating (111.6) and fifth in scoring with 119.6 points per game.
Spoelstra would say that he believes after the break, they're going to show how “dangerous” they are.
“You just look at our defense, our defense is improving,” Spoelstra said, according to the team's YouTube page. “It’s the same thing with our offense. The efficiency isn’t exactly where we need it to be, but we can explode on teams…”
“Offensively, I think when we get our guys back, I think we’re going to be a really dangerous offensive team…Just wait until we get our guys back into the fold,” Spoelstra continued.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. on the Heat being “hungry”
While the Heat deal with injuries, as Spoelstra alluded to in his comments, many key players missed Wednesday's game, like first-time All-Star Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson, and Tyler Herro. Focusing on Herro, he's been the one piece that Miami has been waiting for his return to see what this team can be made of, as he's missed the last 15 games, but 45 total this season.
Hoping Herro and others can be fully healthy by next Thursday's practice, there's no doubt that the Heat are “hungry” to prove themselves, as Jaime Jaquez Jr. put it.
“We got a lot to prove. We got a lot to still do in this season. The beautiful thing about it, we got a lot of games left still. But this is going to be a big push for us,” Jaquez said after recording 23 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, off the bench in the win over New Orleans.
At any rate, Miami enters the All-Star break at 29-27, putting them eighth in the Eastern Conference.
