Bam Adebayo out of the boot, and other notes from Tuesday's Heat practice

Kel’el Ware had his best night in a Heat uniform, according to coach Erik Spoelstra, during the overtime win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Usually 81 percent of his baskets are assisted but three of his seven shots were unassisted tip-ins and the rest were helped by Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson.

This season, 43.2 percent of his shots have come from Mitchell and Jaquez setting him up.

When coach Erik Spoelstra was asked about the connection between them, he said, “Sometimes it just works out that way. I think Davion, it’s not hard to figure that out. He wants to set up guys for easy baskets. He’s such a willing passer. He knows that energy always improves when guys see the ball go in the basket. And with Jaime, it’s just an improvement of his overall playmaking. He’s not only making the play to Kel’el, but he’s making other pass outs much more frequently, much more efficiently, like the kick out he had to Simo (Fontecchio) for a three in the first half.”

Regarding the second game of the Cleveland miniseries on Wednesday, he said it’s not being taken lightly. “I think coming into the season, we weren’t on a lot of people’s calendars as ‘hey, this is an important game,’ but Cleveland is a very good basketball team… It doesn’t take anything away from what we felt about last night (Tuesday). It was a great basketball game.”

Furthermore, the Heat’s half-court offense ranks 10th in the NBA points per 100 possessions, scoring 118.2 points nightly. He attributed the success there to unselfish play with well-timed cuts, spacing for others. “That’s an easy concept, but it’s difficult to get a team to really embrace that.”

Additionally, Bam Adebayo hasn’t played since he sprained his left big toe in Denver, accidentally stepping on Cameron Johnson’s foot, but he was without his walking boot and participated in Heat practice, doing side-to-side plus and running drills with an athletic rope around his waist. After that, he worked on free throws and close-range floaters with both hands with assistant coaches Caron Butler and Malik Allen.

There's still no definite timetable for the return of Adebayo, who has been listed as day-to-day. Miami is 2-1 without him thus far.

The last player to leave the floor was Kasparas Jakučionis after working on 3-pointers. The rookie has yet to get in a game, after recovering from a groin injury.

NBA HISTORY IN FLORIDA 🔥

Last night was the first time in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) that multiple teams from the same state hit a game-winning @TISSOT buzzer-beater on the same night in the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat! pic.twitter.com/GwR0gVt5rJ
— NBA (@NBA) November 11, 2025

How did the Miami Heat execute THAT play?

Heat report card in win vs. Cavaliers

Mini-Jimmy? Jaquez Jr. has been on fire