Norman Powell-less Miami Heat unable to overcome Wembanyama, Spurs: some takeaways

The big man duel between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs returned to the hardwood on Thursday night. The highly anticipated battle between Victor Wembanyama and Kel'el Ware, quickly turned into a Bam Adebayo-Wemby duel.

The Spurs on a hunt to start 5-0 for the first time in franchise history, and the Heat looking to jump out to an impressive 4-1 start. Miami would be without Norman Powell once again due to that groin soreness, so the starting lineup and rotation from the Charlotte Hornets game rolled right over into San Antonio.

So, here are three takeaways from this game:

1. Defending Victor Wembanyama.

Oct 30, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives to the basket between Miami Heat center Kel'el Ware (7) and guard Pelle Larsson (9) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat preparing for Victor Wembanyama's offensive skill is always something to watch. He is such a headache to prepare for that defenses are naturally taught to overly keep an eye on him. But not Erik Spoelstra. The Heat rarely even sent a slight double in the first half of this game, as the Heat were standing firm in their principles of guarding straight up. And this one-on-one defense wasn't just Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware walling up. It was a ton of Davion Mitchell switches to try and contain him. The entire goal as a small guard defending a giant like Wembanyama is forcing him to pickup his dribble early. Mitchell and others did a good job of that. Wembanyama was of course still effective on both ends, but the Heat found ways to limit the scoring dominance for enough of the night to be in a position to win.

2. Andrew Wiggins bringing the offensive punch.

Oct 30, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

A lot of the early offensive damage for the Heat to start the season has come from the bench. But when you're without both Norman Powell and Tyler Herro, while a giant defensive deterrent stands on the other side, it's clear you need your primary players to come to play. Andrew Wiggins did that. Bam Adebayo did that in the first half for pockets as he knocked down 3 triples along with 17 first half points. It seems as if whenever Adebayo matches up with any player with defensive hype, he brings an extra level of aggression, but the lid on the basket in the second half allowed the ineffieicency to creep up. Wiggins put together a loud second quarter, as he got into one of those aggressive modes, though. The mid-range was dropping, a ton of activity on the offensive glass, and wasn't afraid to generate paint touches with Wembanyama inside. It continued in the second half as he was one of the few positive scoring options in their rough patch. The Heat need that version of Wiggins consistently.

3. Hitting a third quarter offensive wall, before a (slight) fourth quarter comeback.

Oct 30, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guards Dylan Harper (2) and Stephon Castle (5) battle for the loose ball with Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

That fast paced, full-sprint offense finally came to a halt in the third quarter of this game. A couple things that lead to it: the constant fouls and trips to the line for the Spurs simply slowed the game down, and repeatedly taking the ball out of the net on defense makes it tough to find advantages on the break. This led to the Heat playing half-court offense late into the clock at a rate that we haven't seen since last season. Wembanyama's presence was having an impact on many of the Heat's paint attacks, and that 14 point third quarter pretty much shows the shooting drop-off that occurred. But the Heat didn't quit there. A fourth quarter run began initially behind Simone Fontecchio who continues to be an absolute knockdown shot-maker. Wiggins, Adebayo, and Jaime Jaquez started getting into a confident rhythm inside as well, but Spoelstra adjusting to a 2-3 zone was the real reason for the turnaround. Ultimately, the three point shooting wasn't strong enough to hold off the Spurs following that run, leading to a Heat loss and a 3-2 start to the year.