By Miguel Mike Medina
The Miami Heat lost the season opener to division rival, the Orlando Magic, 125-121 at the Kia Center on Wednesday night.
Norman Powell led the Heat with 28 points on 9 of 19 from the field and 6 of seven from the free-throw line. Andrew Wiggins added 18 points. Bam Adebayo had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Heat played well until the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. Magic outbustled and outplayed them during crunch time. Miami continues to struggle during crunch time, a significant factor that contributed to its struggles last season. They went 4 for 12 in that department last year.
The Heat committed 17 turnovers and shot 34 percent from the perimeter. Coach Erik Spoelstra decided to play small ball, and the result didn’t work in his favor.
Adebayo guarded Wendell Carter Je pretty well, but then Carter Jr got into rhythm and played more aggressively during the final minutes of the game.
Miami will travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Friday.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
