The Heat's starting five against Thunder, plus key stats as Miami tries to recover

After an embarrassing showing for the Miami Heat in Indiana a night ago, they get right back out there on the floor Sunday night against the reigning NBA champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Heat seem to be looking the same in the health department as they did on the frontend of this back to back, but now it's all about finding the right combinations and lineups with this group.

Things won't be getting any easier for Miami, as they follow up this OKC match-up with the Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, OKC again, and the Golden State Warriors.

No easy games in the near future, so it's forcing this team to figure out their problems on the fly.

So let's get into some keys to this Thunder match-up:

1. Sticking with the same starting five.

Jan 4, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra keeps his eyes on his team during the second half at Kaseya Center against the New Orleans Pelicans. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

After watching how that Indiana game played out, a few things stuck out about the starting lineup. The trio of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, and Norman Powell is just too small to sustain consistent production. The other part is bumping Kel'el Ware out of the mix doesn't really help the future of this team, nor the present if we're being honest. But as the Thunder will be without Isaiah Hartenstein once again, it means the front-court will be Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. What does that mean for Miami? Spo will most likely be sticking with that same first unit, as Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo will take those assignments. Also with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the other side, this isn't the game he will be benching Mitchell.

2. A new Heat starter expected to be attached to second unit.

Jan 6, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) pauses after a foul by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Norman Powell is coming off his worst game in a Miami Heat uniform. Shots just weren't dropping for him, as he shot 2 for 12 from the field on his way to an underwhelming 6 points in Indiana. Not often we see back to back down games from the Heat's off-season acquisition, which is why there's an expectation he will come out firing. As the Heat work this new, and healthy, nine man rotation, it's sort of built to insert one of their scoring guards, in Herro or Powell, next to that second unit. We saw Andrew Wiggins get time with that unit for a few weeks, but Powell is the next guy up. Miami wants to glue Herro and Bam Adebayo to each other as they increase pick and roll reps to help the both of them. So expect Powell to get a lot of run with Jaime Jaquez Jr, Pelle Larsson, Nikola Jovic, and Kel'el Ware.

3. Two key Thunder stats that hurt Miami.

Feb 12, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket beside Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The scoring hasn't been as smooth as it once was for the Miami Heat. Facing the 24th best defense a game ago, the Heat were totally stalled against that Pacers rotation. Now to Sunday night, they face a Thunder squad that is comfortably the best defense in the association. Will pick and rolls save them? Can they find their three point shooting touch? That's not even the scariest statistic. Against good teams and defenses especially, this team really has one clear outlet to finding some scoring rhythm: turning the opposing team over and running in transition. OKC averages the second least turnovers in the entire NBA. If Miami can't turn this team over and get some easy buckets, it's going to be a long game of half-court hoops.