MIAMI – As the Miami Heat obtained a much-needed win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, 142-116, marking the team's second straight victory after a massive slump, there were many contributions in the absence of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. With Adebayo set to return to the Heat for Monday's clash against the Denver Nuggets, the team will still need some of the same elements that led to the past two wins, with Andrew Wiggins being one of them.
Without Adebayo and Herro, Wiggins was one of many who stepped up to take a lot of the workload as he led the team with 28 points, shooting an efficient 12 of 16 clip from the field, making all four of his three-point attempts. He's also coming off a solid outing on Friday in the win over the Atlanta Hawks, where he recorded 18 points and eight rebounds.
To go along with six rebounds, three assists, and three steals, Wiggins was no doubt more “assertive” and aggressive on Saturday, an aspect that Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra would say makes Miami a “better basketball team.”
“Yeah, both nights. he was really good. That's a good word, assertive on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said. “It's just fun to see him when he's competing at that level. He has those kind of gifts to be able to make the difficult look easy, the contests, the blocks, the multiple efforts that he's able to do defensively in the zone, those are not easy things.”
“And then he really got on a roll offensively, and he did it from every facet, you know, putting his head down, getting us in transition, you know, making some mid-range, some threes,” Spoelstra continued. “But he was just, you know, very assertive, and we're a better basketball team when he has that mindset; it might not lead to this kind of stat line, but that mindset is really important for our team.”
Erik Spoelstra on how huge Andrew Wiggins has been the last few games without Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro:
"He has the gifts to make the difficult look easy…He was very assertive. We're a better team when he has that mindset…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/L4DwxiuTEO
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025
Heat's Andrew Wiggins on what the best version of himself looks like
While Wiggins has been one of the Heat's unsung heroes due to Adebayo, Herro, or even Norman Powell being considered top options for the team, the former Golden State Warrior has been the perfect complementary option. Though he may score 28 points a night as he did on Saturday, he will always be a piece that gives Miami elite defense and an offensive threat.
However, there's no denying that when Wiggins is aggressive, the team becomes more dangerous, which the 30-year-old mentioned the team told him the same thing. So far this season, Wiggins has averaged 16.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from deep.
“They just told me, you know, an aggressive me is the best version of myself,” Wiggins said. “So you know, I just got to stay with it. And, you know, continuously do it.”
Asked Andrew Wiggins about contributing in a huge way and if there was any conversations about him stepping up. Says there wasn’t and how the team focuses more collectively.
Would say in second vid that team tells him that an aggressive Wiggins is the best version. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/ZyV7MYu6U3
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025
While it makes sense that Wiggins would be one player to take more of a workload without Adebayo and Herro out, the flow of the game still found him with the ball as he made the most of his opportunities. Wiggins would say to ClutchPoints that there wasn't any conversations ahead of the outing that he would play a huge role.
“Not conversations. When we go out there, we just try to do it collectively,” Wiggins said. “And everyone looking out for each other, trying to play with pace, get stops. And you know, when we do that, you know, everyone eats.”
At any rate, Wiggins looks to still be a featured player on Miami with the team at 17-15, looking for three straight wins when the Nuggets visit on Monday.
