Powell, Wiggins lead historic first quarter, a drop-off and other takeaways from Heat-Hornets

After a complicated 48 hours for Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, he still made his way to the sideline on Friday night to coach against the Charlotte Hornets.

The Heat were forced to prepare without their two leaders on and off the court, Tyler Herro who has missed the entirity of the season to this point and Bam Adebayo who recently sprained his left big toe.

The Hornets without LaMelo Ball on the other side for the third straight game.

So, let's get into some takeaways from this game, which was pretty much a different story every 12 minutes:

1. Historic first quarter for Miami Heat.

Nov 7, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks on from the sideline against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter of an NBA Cup game at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat came out the gates absolutely firing: 53 points scored in the first quarter, which is a franchise record for points in any quarter and second most points in a first quarter in NBA history. The ten for fifteen shooting from three pretty much tells the story, as it wasn't just one guy going off. All nine players in the rotation had a field goal made, and each of them shot 50% or better from the field. Good basketball and shot making is contagious in a fast setting like the one being played in that opening quarter. Norman Powell set the tone as perimeter aggressors, and Andrew Wiggins continued his usual terror against this Charlotte Hornets team. But throughout a 48 minute game in the National Basketball Association, things can turn in the blink of an eye, which takes us to the second takeaway...

2. The fall-off: things leveling out in the second quarter.

Nov 7, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann (23) drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) during the first quarter of an NBA Cup game at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

How could a 64-38 lead with 9:20 to go in the first half go bad so quickly? The Hornets showed just how. A 26 point lead disintegrated into only a three point lead by halftime. That 10 for 15 shooting from three in the opening quarter dropped to a 1 for 7 second quarter, which is somewhat expected that you'd have to come back down to earth to a degree. But that type of significant drop-off? Yeah that was unexpected. Forget about the three point percentage falling off a cliff, the attempts slicing in half stands out more. Even after a big opening quarter, there's never the ability to stray away from the game-plan of excelling in this new era of offense. They attacked the basket more often, those misses turned into transition baskets the other way, and the Heat's momentum vanished. Tale of two quarters.

3. Heat managing without big man depth, and rough play from their starter.

Nov 7, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard KJ Simpson (25) drives to the basket against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) and forward Nikola Jovic (5) during the first quarter of an NBA Cup game at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

With no Bam Adebayo, this was looked at as a real opportunity for Kel'el Ware to breakout in dominant fashion, as he's the only big who can slot into the rotation at the moment. The defensive tenacity and rebounding just hasn't been there, as the box outs and positioning have been underwhelming. The offensive scoring punch should always be a bonus with him. The jumper, the finishing on the roll. All of that is great, but it's not what this team needs from him. They need the dirty work stuff. Aside from that, the Heat managed to not look in the direction of two-way Vlad Goldin who returned from Sioux Falls, nor Keshad Johnson who jumped into action in Denver when Adebayo went down. Nikola Jovic held down those back-up five minutes, and the wings particularly did a good job crashing. Jaime Jaquez and Pelle Larsson's physicality down there stood out.