What happened to the Miami Heat down the stretch?

The Miami Heat kicked off the 2025-2026 regular season with an entertaining clutch game that ultimately didn't go their way. Here are some of the key statistics to help illustrate what went down in the loss to the burgeoning Orlando Magic.

Jump Shots: The Heat converted on 13 of their 23 jump shots (56.5 percent) in the first half. In the second half, however, they made just eight of their 21 attempts (38 percent). Notably, the Heat shot 44.4 percent from three in the first half, just 23.5 percent in the second.

Defensive inconsistency: Although their first half offense was clicking, the Heat's defense wasn't necessarily on the same page, allowing a 123.2 offensive rating in the first half, (for perspective, that number would've ranked 1st in the NBA last season). In the third quarter, the defense was much better, where they held the Magic to a putrid 84 offensive rating.

However, in the final quarter, they allowed a 125 offensive rating despite the Magic converting on under 36 percent of their field goals. How, you might ask?

Free Throws: The Magic shot 14 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, and converted on all but one, after taking 21 free throws through the first three quarters combined. This means the Magic took 12 more total free throws than the teams that led the league in free throw attempts per game last season.

Second Chance Points: The Magic scored nine second chance points in the fourth quarter. Those extra possessions were back-breaking for the Heat, who did a much better job holding the Magic down on the boards in this game, out-rebounding them by one after losing the rebound margin by an average of 18.5 in the two preseason matchups.

Turnovers/Transition defense: The Heat turned the ball over five times in the final quarter, with the Magic converting those opportunities into points every time they did. This was a problem throughout the game, as the Heat finished with 19 turnovers, (two more turnovers than the league-worst Utah Jazz averaged last season).

Additionally, although the Heat held the Magic to a 22nd percentile 89.4 offensive rating in the halfcourt, (converting on just 39 percent of their field goals), they allowed the Magic to put up an 85th percentile transition offensive rating, (where the Magic converted on 83 percent of their looks).