Misery continues for Heat, falling for 8th time in 9 games, this time 112-91 to Raptors

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Dec 23, 2025

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MIAMI – On the night before the night before Christmas, another lump of coal for the Miami Heat.

So make it eight losses in the last nine games and a .500 record at the holiday break with Tuesday night’s 112-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Kaseya Center, this time their lowest-scoring game of the season.

Looking nothing like the team that dominated on offense at the start of the season, Erik Spoelstra’s team instead this time fell to Sandro Mamukelashvili & Co.

Unlike the efforts in road losses to the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks over the weekend, when the Heat competed until the decisive stages, this had the look of a team beaten down by the recent losses, in desperate need of a break.

At 15-15, the Heat now get Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, before returning for a back-to-back set on Friday night in Atlanta and then Saturday night at home against the Indiana Pacers.

By then, it will become a matter of whether they can avoid having a losing record for the first time since they stood 1-3 after a Nov. 2 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The numbers were limited across the board for the Heat, save for a 21-point performance from Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Otherwise, 17 points from Norman Powell on 6-of-17 shooting, nine from Bam Adebayo and this time only five points and nine rebounds from Kel’el Ware.

Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 27 points, on a night Mamukelashvili also outscored much of the Heat roster.

Five degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

— Game flow: The Raptors led 21-16 after the first quarter and 51-44 at halftime.

The Heat then went down 16 in the third quarter,

Then, as was the previous two games, in the road losses in Boston and New York, the Heat swooned at the end of the third period, this time down 82-67 going into the fourth.

The Raptors extended their lead to 21 early in the fourth quarter, effectively ending it.

It ended with the Heat at .402 from the field and 8 of 30 on 3-pointers, with 18 turnovers.

— Nothing early: The Heat’s lowest-scoring first half of the season was a study in struggle.

The Heat were 4 of 18 on 3-pointers over the first two periods, with 10 turnovers at halftime.

No Heat player had more than three field goals in the first half, with Andrew Wiggins the lone starter with even that many.

For that matter, even the start was telling, with Toronto moving to an initial 16-3 lead.

Both of the Heat’s two lowest-scoring games of the season have come at Kaseya Center against the Raptors, the Heat’s only two games below 100 points this season.

— Adebayo off: The offensive struggles continued for Adebayo, this time with just three points in the first half on 1-of-5 shooting.

Adebayo also was just 1 of 3 from the foul line in the first half, compensating somewhat with his game-high eight first-half rebounds.

Adebayo closed 4 of 11 from the field, albeit with a game-high12 rebounds.

— Three down: The Heat continued in the injury absences of Tyler Herro (toe), Pelle Larsson (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (elbow).

“I am very encouraged by the progress,” Spoelstra said pregame. “They’re not ready to go tonight, but we don’t have a timeline.

“I came in yesterday and I was encouraged.”

And then the Heat took the court, showing how much the scoring of Herro, the energy of Larsson and perhaps even the creativity of Jovic are needed.

— Comeback tour: On the one-year anniversary of his Achilles tear, Dru Smith sparked the Heat off the bench with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in his initial eight-minute stint.

Smith ruptured his left Achilles in a Dec. 23, 2024, victory over the Brooklyn Nets. He was on the verge of being converted to a standard contract at the time of his injury.

He finally got that contact this past offseason, re-emerging as a rotation mainstay.

Smith closed with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.

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