The Miami Heat may have stumbled upon a frontcourt formula worth exploring - and it comes just in time to shake up the second half of their season. The pairing of Bam Adebayo and rookie Kel’el Ware, once shelved due to early-season struggles, is suddenly looking like a legitimate weapon.
Over the last three games before the All-Star break, the Heat outscored opponents by a whopping 68 points in the 42 minutes the two bigs shared the floor. Sure, those games came against some of the league’s bottom feeders, but dominance is dominance - and for a team still fine-tuning its identity, this stretch matters.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra, never one to overhype a trend, acknowledged the shift but kept the focus on the work ahead.
“I think they’re both in a different place than where they were six, eight weeks ago, three months ago - for different reasons,” Spoelstra said. “But that gives us a different look, and the versatility of being able to play the two of them together and pound the glass on both ends is a weapon for us.”
Spoelstra also praised their mindset, noting that both Adebayo and Ware are committed to making the pairing work. That’s a far cry from earlier this season, when the experiment was all but abandoned after it failed to generate any rhythm.
In fact, there was a 16-game stretch where the two didn’t share the floor at all - until injuries forced Spoelstra’s hand. That unplanned reunion may have unlocked something.
Adebayo, the Heat’s defensive anchor and emotional heartbeat, sees the potential - but he knows it’s about more than just rebounding numbers.
“We just got to be active,” Adebayo said. “It’s not necessarily about the boards.
Everybody is going to point to that. But if we’re active on offense and defense, it looks great and it can help this team.”
Activity is the key word here. With Adebayo’s mobility and Ware’s size, the Heat can throw a unique look at opponents - one that clogs the paint defensively and creates second-chance opportunities on the other end.
The challenge, of course, is spacing and offensive flow. But if both players stay engaged and continue evolving, Spoelstra might have a new wrinkle to play with as Miami gears up for the playoff push.
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Kel’el Ware has taken his share of tough love from Spoelstra this season, with the coach publicly challenging the rookie on more than one occasion. But Ware isn’t shying away from the pressure. In a recent interview, he made it clear that he welcomes the push.
“It pushes me to want to get better even more,” Ware said. “I’m able to show up every day even through everything that is going on.”
That’s the kind of response you want from a young player still finding his way in the league. Ware has the physical tools to be a difference-maker - and if he can continue to develop under Spoelstra’s demanding but proven system, the Heat might have something special on their hands.
Meanwhile, a separate story surrounding Terry Rozier has resurfaced. During his time in Charlotte, Rozier was reportedly involved in a gambling-related investigation.
According to sources, lawyers from a firm known for handling high-profile NBA matters discovered that Rozier had texted someone indicating he would be coming out of a game early. However, the probe didn’t gain traction beyond the league, as no external parties were willing to participate in the investigation.
And finally, in a recent mailbag column, the Heat’s playoff outlook sparked some debate - particularly around Tyler Herro’s availability. Some critics have questioned whether Herro has been overly cautious with his injury absences, but local reporting pushed back on that narrative. The Heat remain in the thick of the Eastern Conference race, and getting Herro back to full strength could be a major swing factor in whether they secure a coveted top-six seed.
Bottom line: Miami’s season is still very much in play. The emergence of a functional Adebayo-Ware duo, Ware’s growth mindset, and the potential return of key players like Herro all add up to a team that’s quietly building momentum. And if Spoelstra has taught us anything over the years, it’s that the Heat don’t need to be flashy - they just need to be ready when it counts.