The Miami Heat have a decision to make with closing lineup

Six minutes and thirty-four seconds.

That's how long the Miami Heat went in Milwaukee without a made field goal to close out that fourth quarter.

Erik Spoelstra funnelled through some different options in that final quarter. It began with a flash of Bam Adebayo-Kel'el Ware minutes as the Bucks were staying big with that Jericho Sims-Bobby Portis front-line.

Shortly after, Miami went back small as the first unit came back in to try and spark something. Norman Powell was the headliner of that, as he kept finding ways to get to that free throw line as the team's only lifeline of scoring.

After a rough defensive possession or two from Davion Mitchell and the need for buckets, Tyler Herro entered the game for him to slot in next to Powell for an offensive punch.

In the eight minutes Herro and Powell shared the floor last night, they were a -152.9 NET rating.

There's a couple layers to this that make it problematic. With the staggering Spo has done with each of these guys leading their own lineups, this only comes up positively in blow-outs where Miami runs away with a game like they did in the prior showing at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But when a game is tight, do you go with chemistry and minutes logged, or do you lean on the best available talent with limited time together?

There are pros and cons to both, but the overarching theme here is that a Herro-Powell combination leaves Miami without any resistance in the point of attack defense area. The Bucks took-off in many ways because of that constant attacking, pretty much finding whatever shot they wanted.

The only way it can truly work is if the offense with the two on the floor is *that* good. If they were at a level where they are playing off one another as scoring punches, then you can overcome poor defense late.

But that hasn't been the case.

Erik Spoelstra on Tyler Herro and Norman Powell making it work:

“Like I said I’m not overthinking it, that’ll work — they’re both skilled, they both can play without the ball…I already know what it will look like…those two guys at the top of their game is going to make us… https://t.co/7Ld7M4I9yE pic.twitter.com/paxprSSV2Q
— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) February 23, 2026

As much of an uphill battle as this seems, the flip side of it is that there's not really a better option to present. This team isn't in a position to sit either Herro or Powell in clutch time when they're in a close game.

They're somewhat forced to live and die by this formula, and they died by it a night ago in Milwaukee.

The defense doesn't possess much upside, but the offense does. If Miami is going to make this work, they better find a way to create a late game offense around their two primary scorers, that doesn't just consist of the two guys taking turns.