Ware's big game helps Heat overcome Adebayo foul trouble in 126-110 rout of Nets

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mar 5, 2026

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MIAMI — On many other nights, the Miami Heat might have reached the point of peril.

Against the Brooklyn Nets, adversity merely proved to be an inconvenience Thursday night for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

So even with Bam Adebayo in foul trouble, with Norman Powell sidelined, and with an unexpected deficit in the third period, ultimately a 126-110 victory over the tanking Nets, the Heat’s sixth victory in their last eight games.

With Adebayo mostly a second-half spectator, the Heat got more than enough from replacement big man Kel’el Ware to make the fourth quarter largely ceremonial.

In backing up Tuesday’s home rout of the Nets, the Heat got 16 points, 11 rebounds, a career-high seven blocked shots and five steals from Ware, as well as 25 points from Tyler Herro, 21 from Adebayo and 18 from Jaime Jaquez Jr.

So up to 34-29 for Heat and down to 15-47 for the lottery-leaning Nets.

The competition now stiffens, with a Friday night road game against the sizzling Charlotte Hornets and then a Sunday home game against the East-leading

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

— 1. Game flow: Despite the Nets committing eight first-quarter turnovers, the Heat were limited to a 31-26 lead entering the second period. The Heat then pushed their lead to 14 in the second period, before the Nets closed within 60-56 at halftime.

The Heat then fell behind by four in the third period, before recovering to take a 95-83 lead into the fourth.

The Nets closed within nine early in the fourth, before the Heat pushed their lead into the 20s with 8:38 to play, Spoelstra nonetheless reinserting Herro and Adebayo with 4:43 to play and the Heat up 118-103.

— 2. Fast fouls: It was going quite well for Adebayo in the early stages of the third period, at that stage up to 19 points and seven rebounds.

But with 7:08 left in the third period, the Heat captain was called for his fourth foul, on a shot attempt by the Nets’ Noah Clowney, with Spoelstra opting to leave him in at the stage.

Then, on the very next possession, Adebayo was called for an offensive foul 12 seconds later, forcing him to the bench with his fifth foul.

He closed 7 of 15 from the field, 7 of 8 from the line.

— 3. So then Herro: While the 3-point shot remained a work in progress, Herro stepped up with his offense when Adebayo went out.

Herro closed 9 of 16 from the field, 2 of 7 on 3-pointers, and 5 of 5 from the line, with five assists and four rebounds.

Herro has scored at least 22 points in each of the past three games.

— 4. Still a couple: Spoelstra again made a point of getting to the Adebayo-Ware pairing early, with Adebayo checking out with 6:25 to play in the opening period, only to return 2:27 later to work alongside Ware.

While Adebayo had 13 points in the first half, he also was forced to the bench with 1:46 left in the second period with his third foul.

For his part, Ware recorded five blocked shots in the first half, eclipsing by that point his previous season high of four.

He closed 7 of 9 from the field, the frequent recipient of alley-oop passes.

— 5. Smith back: With Simone Fontecchio out with a groin strain, Dru Smith was back in the Heat mix after being held out of two of the previous three games.

While Smith has fallen behind rookie first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, the two this time play side-by-side when starting point guard Davion Mitchell went out.

Jakucionis closed with 11 points, with Smith scoring nine.