Tyler Herro

Heat: Larsson, Jovic, Adebayo, Herro, Trade Deadline

December 27th, 2025 at 6:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelle Larsson scored a career-high 21 points Friday night as he returned to the Heat’s starting lineup after missing the previous five games with a left ankle sprain, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a subscriber-only story. Larsson’s shooting didn’t suffer from the layoff, as he connected on 9-of-13 attempts from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range.

“You should have seen his rehab sessions, whether it was on the bike initially, it was just all out,” coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “Almost a level of throwing up. I walked in on one of those sessions, and then also his court sessions. He just pushes the envelope. And so, he had the conditioning. It’s different than game conditioning. But he was able to handle those 29 minutes. And you just see the glue intangibles that he provides.”

Larsson admitted being “pretty gassed” after his first game action in more than two weeks, but the Heat were glad to welcome him back, not just for his scoring but for the other things he does on the court. He brings a lot of intangibles that the team missed while losing eight of its previous nine games.

“We’re so happy to have him back in this lineup,” Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “He’s the ultimate energy guy, really just gives everybody life and the spark that we desperately needed. So the fact that he was able to come in after so many games missed and just play like that just shows how hard of a worker and how great of a player he is.”

There’s more on the Heat:

Also returning Friday was Nikola Jovic, who was sidelined for four games due to a right elbow contusion/laceration, Chiang adds. Wearing a protective sleeve on his injured arm, Jovic suffered through a rough shooting night, going 3-of-14 from the field and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, but he contributed seven rebounds, four assists and a steal and finished as a plus-12 for the game. “I’m someone who when I miss shots, I get pretty mad,” Jovic admitted. “I’m pretty fired up. But during this time that I was injured, I talked a lot to assistant coaches and some of the people from the Heat and they helped me find a way to get back into (the game) quicker. … So, yeah it for sure helps and I think it helped me tonight. Even though I didn’t make a lot of them, I still felt great even shooting them.”
Bam Adebayo will miss his second straight game tonight with soreness in his lower back. “He clearly is not moving well enough to compete. … He really needed this time,” Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link). “He’s definitely making progress. He really needed this time just to get … he was dealing with some deals because of overcompensation. I think he’s feeling a lot better each day.” Tyler Herro, who has played just once in the last nine games due to a right big toe contusion, is “definitely making progress,” Spoelstra adds (Twitter link).
In a full story for The Sun-Sentinel (subscription required), Winderman makes the case for why the Heat should be sellers at the trade deadline and argues that Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell should be moved to improve the team’s draft assets.

Heat Notes: Slump, Adebayo, Herro, Larsson, Jovic, Ware

December 25th, 2025 at 7:22pm CST by Rory Maher

While head coach Erik Spoelstra thought the Heat showed some positive signs in consecutive road losses in Boston and New York, he was left searching for answers following the team’s third straight defeat on Tuesday, a lopsided home loss to Toronto, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

“This is not what I would have predicted,” Spoelstra said following Tuesday’s 21-point loss. “I thought we were ready. I thought we had a good session this morning. I thought coming off of our last two games, on the road, even though there were losses, there were way more good things than negative things. In the New York game, we competed with a great spirit. That kind of game, you win a lot of games. But I don’t even know right now.”

As Chiang details, Miami entered December with a 13-7 record and the NBA’s 13th-ranked offense and third-ranked defense. But the team has gone just 2-8 so far this month, the worst mark in the league, with an offensive rating that ranks 27th and a defensive rating that ranks 18th over that stretch to fall back to .500 (15-15).

Third-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. said each player on the team needs to take accountability for his performance, starting with himself.

“I think it all starts individually,” Jaquez said. “We all got to look ourselves in the mirror. I know I can do a lot more. There’s a lot more that I know I can bring to this team. And just got to go dig deep and find it, bring it out. That goes for every one of us. It’s a tough stretch right now, and we’re really going to discover who we are in this time. And I’m confident in this team, I’m confident in this locker room. It’s something that we’re just going to have to battle through.”

Here’s more from Miami:

Bam Adebayo has been in an offensive rut that coincides with the Heat’s slide down the standings, Chiang writes in another story. While the team’s new free-flowing offense earned praise early in the season, it has limited some of the go-to actions the Heat used to run for the three-time All-Star big man. Adebayo is taking fewer shots at the rim and more from long distance, but he has only converted 31.4% of his three-point looks, one of the worst marks in the league among players with four-plus attempts per game, Chiang notes. “It sucks,” Adebayo said of his ongoing shooting slump. “But it’s part of the NBA, it’s a long season. So fighting through whatever I’ve got to fight through, figure out how I can impact winning and do that instead of focusing on shots not falling. Just play basketball and shots will eventually start falling.”
Adebayo is dealing with lower back soreness and is questionable for Friday’s matchup at Atlanta, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays. Guard Tyler Herro will miss his sixth straight game due to a right big toe contusion, but Pelle Larsson (left ankle sprain) and Nikola Jovic (right elbow contusion/laceration) are probable to suit up against the Hawks, Winderman adds. Larsson has been out for the past five games, while Jovic has been sidelined for the past four.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown was effusive in his praise of Kel’el Ware after Sunday’s loss in New York, according to Chiang. The second-year Heat center had one of the best games of his career, finishing with 28 points (on 11-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from long distance) and 19 rebounds in 35 minutes. “I’ll tell you, Kel’el Ware, he was a beast tonight on the glass,” Brown said at the start of his post-game press conference on Sunday. “This is one of the very few times we got our behinds kicked on the glass, and a lot of it is attributed to him and the way he rebounded on both ends of the floor, and then he shot the mess out of the basketball. We told our guys he’s been shooting it really well. We just didn’t get to his body. It’s a little tough because he’s seven feet. So, with a guy like that, you almost got to close all the way to his chest just to try to hopefully make him put it on the floor.”

Heat Notes: Jakucionis, Guard Depth, Adebayo, Ware, Rozier

December 21st, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Friday’s loss at Boston was the sixth in the last seven games for the Heat, but they got an encouraging performance from rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). Pressed into duty because of the team’s lengthy injured list, the 20th pick in this year’s draft got his first career start and responded with 17 points in nearly 36 minutes.

“He gives us the energy, the pace. He’s fearless in terms of his play-making, aggressiveness, getting into the paint,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He has really improved his three-point shooting. So that was definitely a bright spot. With Davion (Mitchell) being out, Kas got an opportunity and he really played well.”

Jakucionis has dealt with a bumpy start to his NBA career, caused in part by a sprained left wrist that sidelined him for part of training camp and the preseason, along with a strained right groin that forced him to miss the first seven regular season games. He has been playing mainly in the G League, where he’s averaging 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game with Sioux Falls.

“You never know when the chance is coming, when D-Mitch was out,” Jakucionis said. “I just have to be ready every time they need me, and I’m trying to stay ready every time they need me.”

There’s more on the Heat:

Jakucionis’ potential emergence adds to an extremely crowded backcourt in Miami, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel states in a mailbag column (subscription required). Injuries have been a factor so far, but Jakucionis could eventually be competing for playing time with Mitchell, Norman Powell, Tyler Herro and Dru Smith. Winderman notes that Pelle Larsson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are also used in guard roles, so there could be difficult decisions about playing time if everyone gets healthy.
Spoelstra experimented with small-ball lineups earlier in the season, but injuries have forced him to rely more on the double-big combination of Bam Adebayo and second-year center Kel’el Ware, Winderman observes in a separate story. The Heat tend to use Ware in drop coverage to protect the rim, while switching on defense more often when he’s not in the game. “I mean, it keeps teams off balance,” Adebayo said. “We’ve got to look at it in a positive way. We keep teams off balance.”
In another piece, Winderman calls for commissioner Adam Silver to make a decision on what the Heat can do with Terry Rozier‘s contract before the January 7 salary guarantee date and the February 5 trade deadline get any closer.

Injury Notes: Herro, Jovic, Trae, Magic, Wolves, Dosunmu

December 17th, 2025 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Tyler Herro (right big toe contusion) is traveling with the Heat on their three-game road trip that begins in Brooklyn on Thursday and hopes to return to action at some point on that trip, but admitted there’s “a lot of swelling” in his toe, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Herro, who has missed three of the past four games due to the toe injury, played last Tuesday after taking a Toradol shot, then practiced during the team’s five-day break before being ruled out of Monday’s contest.

“I probably shouldn’t have practiced,” Herro said today. “That kind of like sparked things back up. So I’m just trying to control the swelling and the inflammation, and then from there I can kind of decide what I want to do from there.”

Forward Nikola Jovic, who was diagnosed with a right elbow contusion/laceration after taking a hard fall on Monday, told reporters on Wednesday that he considers himself week-to-week. However, he’s optimistic his absence won’t be a lengthy one and said he was relieved that his injury wasn’t worse.

“I was scared I broke my arm, because I didn’t feel anything and I just saw a lot of blood,” Jovic said. “And they were really scared, too, because I had a pretty deep and a big cut, too. I have stitches now. But it didn’t look good as soon as I went back, because I started feeling my arm. It feels good now. I can’t do a lot of stuff. I can’t really hold stuff right now. But it’s not broken, so I guess that’s the most important thing and I think I’ll be back really soon.”

We have more injury updates from around the NBA:

Hawks guard Trae Young, who has been out since October 29 due to a sprained MCL, appears to be nearing his return. Young was assigned to the G League on Tuesday to practice with the College Park Skyhawks, then recalled on Wednesday for a practice with the NBA squad, according to the team (Twitter links).
Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain) and Moritz Wagner (ACL recovery) aren’t traveling with the Magic on their four-game Western Conference trip that begins Thursday in Denver, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). While the Wagner brothers remain in Orlando to focus on their rehab work, Jalen Suggs (left hip contusion) will join the team on its trip, though head coach Jamahl Mosley said the guard “wasn’t able to go and do much in practice” on Wednesday.
After missing the Timberwolves‘ past two games, star guard Anthony Edwards (right foot injury maintenance) is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s matchup with Memphis (Twitter link). Veteran point guard Mike Conley, meanwhile, has been ruled out for a third straight game due to right Achilles tendinopathy.
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Cleveland and hopes to be active following a two-game layoff, but both of his thumbs are sprained and taped up, and he has a bone bruise in his right thumb. Those injuries would eventually heal with rest, but Dosunmu intends to play through them, referring to it as a “pain tolerance thing” (Twitter links via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network and Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic).

Heat Notes: Losing Streak, Threes, Herro, Wiggins, Jovic

December 14th, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

The Heat were grateful to have an extended break after losing their fourth straight game on Tuesday, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Miami has spent the past three days practicing after taking a couple of rest days in the middle of the week.

“Look, we don’t like losing,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We have a very competitive group in the locker room. We’re just focused on getting better, not getting caught up in all the panic and narratives that potentially can be out there, just have to rally around each other.

“Look, it’s a competitive league. There’s so much parity right now. You have to play well and then you have to find different ways to win games. There’s going to be a lot of teams that are going through what we’re going through right now. You can’t panic for all the noise. You just have to focus on, ‘How do we get better?’”

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes, the Heat had gotten pretty lucky during their 14-7 start to the season, as opponents were converting three-pointers at a much worse rate than expected, while the Heat were one of the top outside shooting teams in the league. Both of those trends have reversed during their recent stretch of poor play.

“They’re doing a great job of scouting how we play our offense,” guard Norman Powell said. “They’re up higher. They’re two, three steps up above the three. They’re denying passing lanes. They’re trying to make us play one in the half court and then two inside the line.

“So we’ve just got to be better collectively, really working the offense like we were at the beginning of the season. We’re all on everybody’s scouting report in how we want to play, the pace, and trying to slow us down. So individually, we can all be better in how we navigate the offense, attack, kickouts, not taking so many tough two-pointers once we get into the paint.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

Spoelstra strongly pushed back on the notion that having Tyler Herro back has disrupted the team’s offensive rhythm, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “It’s just a total overreaction that’s misguided. We need Tyler,” Spoelstra said Friday. “And it will be a little bit of a process working him back into the mix. But to get where we need to go, we need Tyler’s skill and talent. We need our guys healthy, and that’s what we’re working on right now. We can be very dangerous when we get guys on the same page, committing to our identity, and Tyler’s a big part of that.” The Heat are just 3-3 when Herro plays, but they’ve been better when he’s on the court than when he’s off, Chiang observes, and the 25-year-old guard is once again putting up big offensive numbers.
While he admits there are pros and cons to the role, veteran wing Andrew Wiggins has grown accustomed to spending most of his time as a small-ball power forward, per Winderman. “It hasn’t been weighing on me at all. I’ve been feeling pretty comfortable,” he said. “It was more so newer at the beginning of the year. But, like I said, I feel comfortable now and I feel like I’m doing a solid job being the power forward. I mean, it has its advantages and disadvantages.”
Spoelstra says fourth-year forward Nikola Jovic will have an opportunity to play rotation minutes again at some point, Winderman adds, though when exactly that will take place is still up in the air. “He just has to stay with it,” Spoelstra said. “And each day is an opportunity for him to get better and to make an impression. That’s good that he has practice days, to show us. But he’s been working behind the scenes and he’ll get his opportunity again.”

Southeast Notes: Risacher, Whitmore, Herro, Knueppel, Salaun

December 11th, 2025 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

After a promising first NBA season in which he placed second in Rookie of the Year voting, Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher has seen his numbers drop off a little this fall. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick is averaging 11.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game with a .453/.296/.677 shooting line through 22 outings after putting up 12.6 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .458/.355/.711 shooting as a rookie.

As Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (subscription required), Risacher, who has battled through a couple injuries during the first couple months of the season, believes he’s developing positive habits despite the statistical dip, and his coaches and teammates are optimistic that better results are coming.

“He’s working really hard and for guys like him, that’s gonna turn around sooner or later,” Hawks guard/forward Vit Krejci said. “I think about the law of percentages, you know, I think we talked about it last year where the first part I was shooting 19% and then it turned around. And he’s good. I’m sure, if you’re consistent with your work, you’re obviously going to go through ups and downs, but I think he’s been handling very well. Just keep working and keep your confidence up.”

We have more from across the Southeast:

After suggesting over the weekend that Cam Whitmore didn’t play on Saturday because he failed to live up to “certain standards” the Wizards expect of him, head coach Brian Keefe has since walked back that message, according to Quinn Allen of RG.org. A team spokesperson told Allen that Whitmore’s DNP-CD on Saturday wasn’t disciplinary, while Keefe said during a Wednesday radio appearance that Whitmore “didn’t do anything wrong” and that the team simply wanted to “give some other guys a chance” in the rotation.
The Heat have lost four straight games and five of their last six, but reintegrating Tyler Herro following his left ankle injury hasn’t been the primary issue during that stretch, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. As Chiang notes, Herro’s role has been under a microscope since Miami had so much success early in the season with a new-look, uptempo offense that has slowed down a little since Herro’s return. However, the team has a +3.6 net rating during his time on the court so far, Chiang writes, including a +13.0 mark when he and Norman Powell play together.
Hornets wing Kon Knueppel tops a list from Zach Harper of The Athletic of this season’s top 10 rookies so far, maintaining an edge over his former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg. As Harper writes, besides leading all rookies in scoring, Knueppel has been the top shooter in the class, has produced consistently, and has been a solid rebounder and play-maker too. Hornets big man Ryan Kalkbrenner also makes Harper’s list, coming in at No. 8.
Knueppel has outperformed the Hornets‘ 2024 lottery pick, Tidjane Salaun, so far this season, but Salaun may be turning a corner after spending nearly the entire month of November in the G League with the Greensboro Swarm, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The second-year forward scored a career-high 21 points in 22 minutes last Friday in Toronto. “I have loved the mindset that Tidjane has come back with from his Greensboro stint,” head coach Charles Lee said. “I have seen him embrace his role even more than he did earlier in the year, which I think is great. I think he’s gotten a little bit more confidence in what that role looks like. I think he’s gotten a little bit more comfortable after getting extended minutes.”

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Big Lineup, Fontecchio, Herro

December 9th, 2025 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat–Magic matchup in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup will tip off shortly. Bam Adebayo believes Miami can not only make noise during the in-season tournament but also the postseason.

“People are going to call us crazy, but I think we’re a contender,” Adebayo told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “We’re going to be called delusional. But how I look at delusion [is] if you ask how many people could be NBA players, what is the percentage of that? So, you’ve got to have a little bit of delusion when it comes to speaking stuff into existence. Like I always say, ‘Speak stuff into existence that matters.’ Manifest things that matter. Being able to just dream about that, write it down and keep looking at that. That goes a long way. And some of that is real. So, I think we’re contenders when we’re fully healthy.”

Following last season’s trade sending Jimmy Butler to Golden State, Adebayo has embraced the role of team leader and face of the franchise.

“This season, for sure, it’s like I’m the one in the driver’s seat,” Adebayo said. “That’s a big responsibility. It’s a big ask. But if they didn’t believe in me, they wouldn’t put me in the seat. That’s how I look at it. If I haven’t done things in the past where they were comfortable with saying, ‘He can be our guide,’ and I wouldn’t be in this seat.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

Coach Erik Spoelstra is banking on the two-big lineup of Adebayo and Kel’el Ware to show improvement. “I just want to see that group, when we play bigger, just for it to be a plus,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “So we have some work to do there. It should be a very good defensive group, but that’s a group that hasn’t been able to defend so far, and we’ve got to continue to work at that.” The Heat has been outscored by 12.5 points per 100 possessions in the 123 minutes Adebayo and Ware have played together this season.
Simone Fontecchio snapped a three-point shooting slump by hitting four outside shots against the Kings on Saturday. Spoelstra didn’t consider taking the Italian forward out of the rotation despite his shooting woes. “For us we know the value that he brings,” Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. “One way or another, he gives you the gravity. But all the other details, we’ve been really encouraged by the team defense that he provides. He’s very detailed. He’s intentional. He wants to do the right thing defensively. He also has a toughness about him. He handles his own under the basket, rebounding against bigger players. He sticks his nose in there.”
After a two-game absence with a toe contusion, Tyler Herro was cleared to return for tonight’s game. Herro is averaging 23.8 points in the five games he’s played. He’s in the starting lineup tonight, Chiang tweets.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Herro, Whitmore, Diabate

December 7th, 2025 at 9:55pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Heat‘s 127-111 loss to the Kings on Saturday extended their losing streak to three games, with a growing injury report catching up to them in Sacramento, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Tyler Herro, Davion Mitchell, and Pelle Larsson all missed the game for Miami.

“We didn’t have a lot of juice on either end of the floor,” said head coach Erik Spoelstra.

As Chiang observes, the injuries forced the Heat to play their 10th different starting lineup through 24 games. Also of note was that Spoelstra went away from Kel’el Ware in the second half, choosing instead to start the third quarter with Jaime Jaquez Jr.

“Just looking for some juice, looking for something to kick-start just some energy,” Spoelstra explained. “It didn’t really work out that way. But I don’t know necessarily what would have. It wasn’t an indictment on Kel’el.”

We have more from around the Southeast Division:

The good news for the Heat this weekend was that an MRI on Herro’s injured toe showed a simple contusion, which is not expected to be a long-lasting issue. “I just was going to wait until we found out what the deal was,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang, when asked if he had been worried about the test. “I try not to stress out about the things that you don’t know about or can’t control.”
Cam Whitmore didn’t play in the Wizards‘ game on Saturday, which coach Brian Keefe indicated was due to disciplinary issues. Varun Shankar of Post Sports broke down Whitmore’s play late in the previous game against the Celtics (Twitter video link), citing Whitmore’s lack of defensive effort and intensity on multiple plays. Shankar notes (via Twitter) that while the Wizards are tanking this season, they have put an emphasis on playing with the proper process.
The Hornets announced, via Twitter, that Moussa Diabate was downgraded to out with right knee soreness for the team’s game against the Nuggets on Sunday. He joined a long list of Charlotte players on the injury report, including LaMelo Ball, Pat Connaughton, Josh Green, Tre Mann, Collin Sexton, and Grant Williams. Given the physical and mental toll of playing seven games in 12 days while shorthanded, maybe no team in the league is as ready for the upcoming five-day break as the Hornets, writes Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “Just use the five days and just focus on the right things,” said Brandon Miller. “Just come back with the mindset of just dominating and then we’ll be fine with that.”

Fischer’s Latest: Antetokounmpo, Knicks, Heat, Morant

December 7th, 2025 at 8:05pm CST by Eli Cohen

While Giannis Antetokounmpo recently reiterated his desire to make things work with the Bucks, the rest of the league is preparing for the moment when Milwaukee signals it’s ready to start hearing offers for the star forward, Jake Fischer writes for The Stein Line (subscriber link).

According to Fischer, due to the widespread belief that any team acquiring Antetokounmpo would need to enter next season with championship expectations, executives around the league expect the two-time MVP to have a good amount of say in where he ends up, though there’s never a guarantee a surprise team doesn’t swoop in and land him.

Antetokounmpo recently turned 31 and is averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game while hitting a career-high 43.5% of his threes this season. He will become extension-eligible on October 1, 2026, a significant factor that will likely play a part in how teams approach making offers for his services.

Of those potential suitors, Fischer cites the Knicks and Heat as organizations to keep an eye on when it comes to a real pursuit of Antetokounmpo’s services.

Here’s more from Fischer:

There’s a belief that the Knicks stand apart as the team the 6’11” forward would most want to end up on, per Fischer, who confirms that the New York squad was the “temptation” that Antetokounmpo discussed during the offseason. He adds that the fanbase’s post-playoff victory gatherings have been endearing to Antetokounmpo, as they appeal to his love of European basketball and soccer supporter activity.
As far as the Heat go, Fischer notes that Antetokounmpo’s management group got as far as doing due diligence on playing in states without income tax, including Florida and Texas (when Luka Doncic was still on the Mavericks), would impact his contract earnings. Once the Heat declined to include Kel’el Ware in Kevin Durant trade discussions this summer, and likewise refused to package Ware with Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, and the 20th pick in the 2025 draft, it was assumed that they were doing so in order to be in a position to make the best possible offer should a younger top-end talent come available.
Fischer also reports that the Heat have had internal discussions regarding Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, who has missed 11 of the team’s last 12 games with a calf injury. He notes that Miami has signaled a willingness to include Andrew Wiggins in the right deal, and the lack of an extension for Tyler Herro could point to him being available in the right deal as well.

Southeast Notes: Banchero, Herro, Whitmore, Ball

December 6th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Paolo Banchero was limited to 20 minutes as he returned to the court Friday after missing 10 games with a left groin strain, but he was able to do just enough to help the Magic claim a one-point win over Miami, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Banchero, who finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists, said he’ll need time to work his way back into playing shape.

“It’s going to take a couple of games,” he said. “My first two shots went in, so that was a good feeling. My shot feels decent. I think it’s going to take a few games, but I was just excited to be out there with the guys and get a win.”

Banchero returns at a good time for the surging Magic, who have won seven of their last 10 games and moved into a tie for fourth place in the East. He’s looking forward to a higher-stakes rematch with the Heat when the teams meet in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup tournament.

“(Friday) was a pretty ugly game for the most part,” Banchero said, “but just being able to find a way to win against a good team, we’re going to see them again Tuesday so we’re going to have to make the adjustments, see what we could have done better and come out and try to get another one against them.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

An MRI conducted Saturday showed that the toe irritation that prevented Tyler Herro from playing on Friday is being caused by a contusion, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). He was held out of the Heat’s game tonight against Sacramento, but it’s not expected to be a long-term injury. “I know about as much as y’all,” Herro told reporters on Friday. “I’m just day by day right now. Not really too sure what happened. I got a little soreness in my big toe. Obviously, I got kicked in like the first quarter the other night in the back of my calf. And then I woke up and my big toe was hurting.”
Wizards forward Cam Whitmore didn’t play on Saturday, and coach Brian Keefe indicated the decision was disciplinary rather than being related an illness that had Whitmore listed as questionable, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post (Twitter link). “We have certain standards that we have for our team,” Keefe said. “He has to live up to those on the better. And he’ll have a chance here, but that’s gonna be up to him when that time comes.”
Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball has been diagnosed with a bone bruise on his left ankle that will force him to miss Sunday’s matchup against Denver, relays Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Ball was unable to finish Friday’s game due to soreness in the ankle.

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