3 things to watch as the Mavericks visit the Heat

SB Nation

The Dallas Mavericks (5-13) kick off a four-game road trip with a 6:30 CST tip against the Miami Heat (11-6) Monday at the Kaseya Center. Miami returns home riding a four-game win streak after beating

Philadelphia Sunday 127-117, in a game it never trailed. Dallas dropped two of the three games comprising its most recent homestand, splitting a pair of nail biters against the Knicks and Pelicans before falling flat Saturday against Memphis, 102-96. The Heat lead the NBA in scoring with 124.8 points per game, also topping the league in pace and assists with 30.6 per game, and the team’s three-point percentage has been top-five most of the year (currently .385). Six Heat regulars shoot better than .365 from deep, led by Simone Fontecchio’s .435 mark. Miami shoots many more times than its opponents, a troubling prospect for a Mavericks team that has made a habit of handing out extra possessions via turnovers. Even when Dallas surrendered only ten giveaways Saturday, the Grizzlies racked up 23 offensive boards. To keep up with the Heat, the Mavericks will have to shoot better than their 35-of-91 showing against the Grizzlies, and would benefit if the hot three-point shooting of guards Brandon Williams and Klay Thompson proved contagious. The pair combined to make eight of 16 from long distance Saturday, a rare bright spot for the Mavericks offensively.

The Heat’s impressive record is even more surprising considering that the team has yet to be joined by All-Star shooting guard Tyler Herro, who underwent ankle surgery in September. His return is expected this week, possibly against the Mavericks Monday for a Miami club that played the day before. While the Heat have fired on all cylinders with their current lineup, Herro’s skillset promises to make things even tougher on opposing defenses by adding to the team’s already stellar wing play from Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins.

Wing stop

Powell, brought aboard this offseason to share Herro’s and Wiggins’ scoring burdens, has proven himself capable of being the focal point of an offense after years of finding meaningful touches for himself while sharing the rock with multiple Hall of Famers as a Clipper and Raptor. With a deep bag of moves and a .456 three-point percentage, Powell is a true three-level scoring threat; four if you count getting to the line, where he nails over 90% on 6.4 attempts per game.

Point guard Davion Mitchell is having the best season of his career in head coach Erik Spoelstra’s motion-style offense, finding shots for himself and the Heat’s skilled cutters. The undersized guard can penetrate and pass, or pull up from midrange and long range. Big bodied shooting guard Pelle Larsson has kept Herro’s spot in the starting lineup warm with double digit scoring. Slashing guard Jaime Jacquez Jr. helped the team get off to a hot start without Herro but has cooled considerably as defenses have adjusted to him, backing off the .207 three-point shooter until he nears the basket, where he remains a dangerous finisher. He made 10 of 12 shots against Philadelphia Sunday.

Big challenges

Bam Adebayo, back from missing six games with a big toe sprain suffered against the Nuggets Nov. 5, pitched in 18 points and 13 rebounds against the 76ers. Second year center Kel’el Ware, who as a rookie was thought of as a gifted prospect in need of developing, stepped up during Adebayo’s absence, scoring in the teens in the last four contests of that stretch. Ware played a complete game against the Bulls Friday, scoring 20 while disrupting passing lanes, holding his own defensively on the perimeter, and affecting many more shots than his one block would indicate. When the two big men share the floor, Ware’s presence down low allows Adebayo to play further from the basket, where he often operates on the wings and above the break, attempting 5.6 threes per game and making 37.5 percent of them.

That synergy has earned Ware increased playing time, some of which seems to have come at the expense of Nikola Jović, now in his fourth year after entering the league as a gifted prospect in need of developing. After battling his way back from a hand injury last season, Jović has begun 2025-26 in a considerable rut, shooting .406 from the field and .294 from deep. One rare highlight and tantalizing sign of his talents was his spectacular inbounds lob to a dashing Wiggins for the game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds in double overtime against the Cavs November 10.

Up front, the Mavericks got pushed around against Memphis as Dereck Lively II sat on the second night of a back to back set. Dallas did not have the size to solve the problem of Grizzlies center Zach Edey on either end, while power forward Santi Aldama poured in 20 points. The night before, Pelicans frontcourt mates Zion Williamson and Derik Queen combined for 42 points against a Mavericks lineup with Lively and Daniel Gafford active. The springy Ware, who regularly beat his Philly counterparts to second chance shots on the way to eight offensive rebounds, will make for a tough matchup.

The road ahead

The Heat have fattened its winning record by beating teams with worse records; Spoelstra-coached groups have historically taken care of business without playing down to the level of its opponents. The Mavericks can expect a well prepared, energetic team that runs the wind out of opponents, gets back on defense quickly, and takes care of the ball, but one that played a matinee game Sunday and has lost a lot of starter games to injury. The Heat take smart shots, and work hard to create them. In Miami’s flow-based offense that de-emphasizes the need for a lead playmaker, Maverick fans can see an image of what could have been if head coach Jason Kidd’s early-season lineup experimentation had been successful.

Dallas can capitalize if it can drag this game into the mud, continuing its three-game trend of holding opponents to three-point percentages in the 20s (Minnesota managed just 31.5 percent the game before). Another way the Mavericks can help their cause is if more than a couple of their players get hot offensively. In addition to Lively, Gafford, Thompson, and Williams, Cooper Flagg and PJ Washington have had encouraging scoring performances lately as Flagg’s grasp of the offense continues to grow and Washington has increasingly taken the responsibility of leadership personally, taking and making some very gutsy shots during a difficult stretch for the team. The Mavericks get a long break after this game, then play three games in four nights starting with the Lakers Friday, Clippers Saturday, and Nuggets Dec. 1.