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Heat fall to the Magic in season opener 125-121

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5 hours ago

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Heat fall to the Magic in season opener 125-121


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Heat Magic Basketball Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts to his team as they play against the Orlando Magic during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Kevin Kolczynski/AP)

ORLANDO. Fla. — The Miami Heat opened the 2025–26 regular season on the road Wednesday, falling to the in-state rival Orlando Magic, 125–121, in a back-and-forth matchup.

Norman Powell led Miami with 28 points in his Heat debut, while Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

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The Heat came out strong, scoring 39 points in the first quarter and hitting 6 of 11 from 3-point range to take a 39–38 lead — the highest-scoring quarter in the 143-game history between the teams.

Miami cooled off in the second quarter, scoring just 26 points as Orlando took a 69–65 lead into halftime.

The Heat’s shooting struggles continued in the second half, hitting only 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in the third, though their defense kept the game close. Miami led 91–90 entering the fourth quarter.

The Heat built a seven-point lead midway through the final period but went more than four minutes without a field goal. Jalen Suggs put the Magic ahead for good with a midrange jumper with 58.7 seconds remaining.

The loss marked Miami’s second straight season-opening defeat against Orlando.

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The Heat look to bounce back Friday when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies.

Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

Pablo Hernandez

Pablo Hernandez

Pablo Hernandez is a Digital Journalist at WPLG. He was born in Cuba and has lived in Miami, Florida since 2002.



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Miami, FL

Allen: Miami season a failure without a trophy

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2 days ago

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October 21, 2025

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Allen: Miami season a failure without a trophy


Inter Miami CF defender Noah Allen insists the team enters the MLS Cup playoffs with high expectations, emphasizing that anything less than lifting the trophy would be considered a failure.

“Yeah [it’s a failure for if Inter Miami don’t win MLS Cup]. We have high expectations for ourselves,” Allen said.

“I feel like we have the highest standard in ourselves and we want to win every trophy possible. Yeah, we want to win.”

Inter Miami concluded the MLS regular season in third place on the Eastern Conference table with 65 points, drawing Nashville SC for the best-of-three Round One playoff series.

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The Herons will host Nashville on Friday night at Chase Stadium for the first match, and secured home-field advantage for the potential third game due to table placement.

“I’m very excited about the playoffs. I have confidence in my team; we have the best of all time, and well, we’re really excited,” Rodrigo De Paul said.

“But football doesn’t always win the best or the one who deserves it most. We have to keep that percentage of luck as low as possible, and whatever work it takes, give everything we have to do our best so that the playoffs go our way.”

Inter Miami are familiar with their Round One opponent, concluding the regular-season campaign with a 5-2 triumph over Nashville on Oct. 18. Now the team will prepare for at least two more games against the same rival.

Lionel Messi, who scored three goals against Nashville in the final game to secure the 2025 MLS Golden Boot, failed to train in the first 15 minutes of the session on Oct. 21. The reason behind his absence is unknown.

Inter Miami were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2024 which has motivated them for this year’s post-season.

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“I feel like we have a good relationship between each other and I feel like we play good football with the ball. We keep a lot of possession and I just feel like we have to have that confidence that we are the best team in the league,” Allen said.

“Yeah, it’s not a sense of urgency. There’s not a panic or anything. It’s more of a motivation, right? And especially the guys that were here last year, I think everyone remembers it.

“And I think it’s been a message around the whole offense that everyone can understand is that it’s difficult, right?

“It’s not traditional, some players may agree, some players may not agree, but we have to do it. We have to win two games.”

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Miami, FL

Key player could miss Miami Heat opener

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3 days ago

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October 20, 2025

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Key player could miss Miami Heat opener


After a preseason in which many of the Miami Heat guards missed time, the team is being hit now in a more vulnerable place on the roster.

It was expected that Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis wouldn’t be available for the season opener in Orlando on October 22, and neither practiced Monday. Also out, however, was someone who has been available as much as any NBA player the past couple of weeks:

Kel’el Ware.

Kel'el Ware

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The second-year player coming off an All-Rookie season is being bothered by neck spasms, with coach Erik Spoelstra not giving much insight about when Ware will be back. This comes after Ware led all NBA players in preseason points, and several other categories, as the Heat pushed him to play frequently and passionately.

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While Ware isn’t expected to start — Nikola Jovic likely gets that nod next to Bam Adebayo — he is slotted for 25-plus minutes coming off the bench, especially since Miami is so short on bigs. The Heat just cut Precious Achiuwa, leaving only Keshad Johnson (an oversized wing who has been inconsistent) and two-way-contract rookie Vlad Goldin.

Playing Goldin against an Orlando Magic team with plenty of size — and skilled size such as Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner — is not ideal. Wendell Carter Jr. is likely the starting center for the Magic, and Goga Bitadze had a strong training camp.

The Heat are scheduled to practice again Tuesday before heading up the state.

It would be a welcome sight to see Ware back on the court.

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Miami, FL

How Far Did Miami Football Drop in Polls After Louisville Loss

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3 days ago

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October 19, 2025

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How Far Did Miami Football Drop in Polls After Louisville Loss


In the wake of the loss to Louisville, the Miami Hurricanes have dropped in both the AP and USA Coaches polls, but not all is lost.

The Hurricanes have dropped from the No. 2 team in the country to No. 9. There is still some value with this team, and now they control their destiny once again, similar to last week.

The issue with this loss is now they no longer control the chaos that is the ACC standings. The Hurricanes are the second-highest-ranked team in the ACC, behind No. 7 Georgia Tech, following No. 16 Virginia, and now No. 19 Louisville.

The Canes’ loss hurt, but the voters still see that they are a. top 10 team in the country. The conflicting schedule does not help with how everything went as well. A game against Florida, then a bye, then Florida State, then another bye, and finally, the Hurricanes have the rest of the season after the Cardinals.

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The Hurricanes will face off against Stanford. A game they should dominate, but who knows how this team will react after such a heartbreaking loss.

(Ranking, team, first-place votes, points)

  1. Ohio State (60), 1,643
  2. Indiana (6), 1,583
  3. Texas A&M, 1,499
  4. Alabama, 1,463
  5. Georgia, 1,360
  6. Oregon, 1,317
  7. Georgia Tech, 1,143
  8. Ole Miss, 1,119
  9. Miami, 1,073
  10. Vanderbilt, 1,031
  11. BYU, 975
  12. Notre Dame, 964
  13. Oklahoma, 882
  14. Texas Tech, 782
  15. Missouri, 748
  16. Virginia, 624
  17. Tennessee, 527
  18. South Florida, 501
  19. Louisville, 458
  20. LSU, 388
  21. Cincinnati, 350
  22. Texas, 318
  23. Illinois, 168
  24. Arizona State, 155
  25. Michigan, 123

Receiving votes: USC 97; Utah 40; Tulane 37; Houston 34; Navy 28; San Diego State 7; James Madison 6; Boise State 4; TCU 2; Minnesota 1

(Ranking, team, first-place votes)

1. Ohio State (65), 1,625
2. Indiana, 1,549
3. Texas A&M, 1,470
4. Alabama, 1,408
5. Georgia, 1,358
6. Oregon, 1, 302
7. Georgia Tech, 1,153
8. Ole Miss, 1,110
9. Miami (Fla.), 1,027
10. BYU, 990
11. Oklahoma, 960
12. Vanderbilt, 902
13. Notre Dame, 872
14. Missouri, 778
15. Texas Tech, 738
16. Virginia, 528
17. Tennessee, 523
18. Texas, 483
19. LSU, 451
20. USF, 393
21. Cincinnati, 355
22. Louisville, 336
23. Illinois, 192
24. Michigan, 175
25. Arizona State, 144

Receiving votes: Navy 59; USC 52; Utah 51; Tulane 45; Houston 34; Iowa 17; James Madison 9; Iowa State 9; San Diego State 4; North Texas 4; Washington 3; UNLV 3; SMU 3; Memphis 3; TCU 2; Pittsburgh 2; Boise State 2; Northwestern 1

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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.

Follow all social media platforms to stay up to date with everything Miami Hurricanes- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and BlueSky.

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