Mar 31, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) and center Bam Adebayo (13) react during the third quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat's Norman Powell-less game-plan

Originally posted on Miami Heat on SI | By Brady Hawk | Last updated Feb 28, 2026 3:27 PM ET

It's never a good sign when a Miami Heat injury report has another other than "day to day" as they push the "making progress" sentiment over the upcoming game-days.

Norman Powell was listed questionable prior to the Philadelphia 76ers game on Thursday night, before he tweaked it even worse after falling into the baseline during the second quarter and didn't return.

Yesterday the update wasn't a set timeline. Instead it just said he's listed as "week to week."

INJURY UPDATE: MRI results for Norman Powell returned as a Grade 1 right groin strain. He will be week to week.

Nikola Jovic (lower back injury management) has been ruled out of tomorrow's game vs the Rockets.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 27, 2026

The bright side is that it's a good time for Tyler Herro to be back and in a rhythm, although it's unfortunate the Herro-Powell pairing hasn't found their flow together at any point this season.

As Erik Spoelstra and the staff prepare for this upcoming stretch, the overarching key is this: the Heat still sit in the top 5 in defense, and it's time to get back to looking like it.

It's just obvious the defense takes a hit when both Herro and Powell are healthy. Even if they aren't logging a ton of minutes side by side, it still takes up a ton of playing time from solid perimeter defenses on the lower end of the rotation.

"We'll treat him and see where we are after the week," Spoelstra said pregame on the Powell injury.

The next part of this schedule includes 7 home games in an 8 game stretch, although some of those match-ups include the Houston Rockets, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, and a Milwaukee Bucks team that will most likely have Giannis Antetokounmpo back.

"We have enough guys to put points on the board," Erik Spoelstra added when talking about this upcoming approach.

Translation: the defense should see a bump, but now it's on Herro and friends to treat the offense the way Powell did early in the season when Miami was in their best stretch of the year.

This Rockets match-up tonight is a good measuring stick for how the Heat will treat things with this new rotation, since their length 1 through 5 is troublesome on defense, and an even tougher guard on the offensive end.

Keep the main thing the main thing.

This final stretch needs to remain about the youth. Increasing Kasparas Jakucionis' minutes. Jaime Jaquez Jr should see the largest usage bump. Time for more Bam Adebayo-Kel'el Ware minutes again.

Time to adjust on the fly. The theme of this season...or all seasons for the Miami Heat.

This article first appeared on Miami Heat on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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