The Miami Heat finally got into the win column Wednesday night, but Klay Thompson’s early-season shooting slump is becoming harder to ignore.
Miami’s first victory of the 2026-27 NBA season came in a 129-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Seven different Heat players finished in double figures, yet Thompson’s numbers still stood out for the wrong reasons. Through five games, he’s averaging 7.8 points and shooting 32.4 percent from three-point range, going 12 of 37.
That kind of start matters for a player brought in to do a very specific job. Thompson left the Dallas Mavericks after a summer contract buyout and signed a two-year, $11.48 million deal with the Heat, with the expectation that he could still give a championship contender reliable shooting. So far, the shots haven’t been falling with any kind of consistency.
The fit is especially important because Thompson is sharing the floor with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, two stars who do most of their damage inside the paint. Miami needs perimeter spacing around them, and Thompson’s reputation as a high-level shooter is supposed to help create that. Defenses are still respecting him, but the bigger question is how long that can last if the slump keeps going.
Before this season, Thompson had a career 40.9 percent mark from beyond the arc. He’s no longer the same All-Star he was during his 13 years with the Golden State Warriors, but the Heat are still expecting him to be useful. There was at least one encouraging sign in Saturday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, when Miami nearly erased a 23-point deficit before falling 115-110.
Thompson hit four threes on nine attempts in that game. It wasn’t a huge scoring outburst, but it was his most efficient high-volume shooting night of the season. If he can keep producing like that, Miami’s offense gets a lot tougher to defend.
Antetokounmpo is going to keep drawing extra attention, and that should keep opening looks for Thompson on the perimeter. The only thing left is for him to knock them down. If he can’t, head coach Erik Spoelstra could consider moving Tim Hardaway Jr. into the starting lineup.
For now, the Heat are still early in the process, and Thompson is still working through a new city, a new team and a new system. There’s time for the pieces to come together before Miami has to revisit the plan.
But the clock is ticking. Thompson won’t be trade-eligible until Dec. 15, which leaves him roughly two months of games to show the Heat they made the right call in bringing him aboard in free agency.
Miami is back in South Florida and set to face the Indiana Pacers on Friday night without All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on WLPG Local 10.
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Heat Finally Showed A Look Miami Fans Have Been Waiting For
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Giannis Antetokounmpo powered the effort with 24 points and 18 rebounds, while Bam Adebayo made his own mark by setting the franchises all-time career rebounding record. For a team that has spent so much time searching for rhythm, the bigger question now is whether this was a one-night fix or the start of something more sustainable as the schedule turns. [Read more 🡒]