Pelle Larsson didn’t hide the problem he sees with the Miami Heat’s defense. To him, the issue isn’t just missed rotations or a slow start. It’s a group of players being a little too polite with one another.
With Miami sitting at 0-3 entering Monday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, Larsson said the Heat have been too hesitant to take charge on defense, almost waiting for someone else to make the first move.
“We’ve been too careful with each other, and tiptoeing around each other a little bit, waiting for the next guy to make the play,” Larsson said. “Just got to have a little bit more aggressiveness.”
That idea fits a theme the Heat had already started to confront before the losses piled up. Davion Mitchell had previously pointed to a lack of trust in teammates handling assignments without extra help, a concern that surfaced before the record turned ugly.
So this isn’t Miami scrambling for an explanation after the fact. The warning signs were there from the start.
Larsson’s point is that respect for teammates can’t turn into passivity. If everyone assumes the next guy will clean it up, nobody does. That’s the gap Miami is trying to close now, and it’s one the team can address immediately even while the chemistry continues to settle.
Erik Spoelstra echoed a similar concern after Saturday’s loss in Charlotte, when the Heat rallied late but still fell short. He wanted more than bursts.
“We have to be able to sustain that level of effort and focus and discipline for 48 minutes,” Spoelstra said.
The numbers back up the uneven start. In John Schuhmann’s Monday NBA.com analysis, Miami ranked 27th defensively, allowing 121.4 points per 100 possessions through its first three games of the 2026-27 regular season. The frontcourt data was even more striking.
When Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo played together, Miami allowed 136.0 points per 100 possessions in 50 minutes. When exactly one of them was on the floor, that number dropped to 113.2 over 81 minutes.
That’s a major difference, though the sample is still tiny. Opponents also shot 24-of-46 from 3-point range with both stars on the court, which is about 52 percent.
That makes it hard to sort out how much of the damage came from Miami’s hesitation and how much came from a hot shooting stretch. The numbers point to the problem, but they don’t tell the full story.
The offense hasn’t offered much cushion either. Miami’s attack ranked 27th at 105.1 points per 100 possessions, leaving the Heat with issues on both ends rather than one glaring weakness dragging down an otherwise efficient team.
Larsson also gave the Heat something real to build on from the Charlotte game. He scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the 115-110 loss, while Mitchell posted 22 points and 10 assists and Adebayo added 20 points and eight rebounds. Antetokounmpo finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
Miami’s best response came early in the fourth quarter, when the Heat ripped off a 25-4 run to tie the game at 100. That group featured Larsson, Mitchell, Adebayo, Bobby Portis Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr., with Antetokounmpo on the bench.
For Spoelstra, that sequence gives him something tangible to study. It showed a lineup that could create energy and force a response in the same game. It doesn’t solve the bigger rotation questions, but it does show that the Heat have at least one group capable of changing the tone.
Mitchell’s own offensive role carries a similar tension. He’s trying to stay aggressive while still involving teammates, and Spoelstra made it clear he doesn’t want that edge to disappear.
“We don’t want him to not be aggressive,” Spoelstra said.
That’s the balancing act facing Miami right now: one player doesn’t want to overstep, another doesn’t want to disappear, and the team is still trying to figure out how to share responsibility without hesitating. Larsson’s message was simple. The Heat need to stop waiting for the next guy.
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