The San Antonio Spurs are hosting the Miami Heat on Thursday to conclude their first home stand of the season. They’ve got a good chance to become the first team in franchise history to start 5-0, but
it should be one of their toughest challenges up to this point in the season.
The Heat thrive when outsider expectations are low. They have only one win against a quality opponent, in this case, the New York Knicks, but their other two have come against lower-grade outfits. Still, they’ve done what’s expected of a good team: wiping the floor when the other is significantly inferior.
One thing the Spurs might want to do is limit Bismack Biyombo’s minutes. They should either go smaller with Harrison Barnes at the five or have Slick Vic play more minutes because the Heat know how to expose a weak link.
San Antonio Spurs (4-0) vs. Miami Heat (3-1)
October 30, 2025: 7:30 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel SW
Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries:
De’Aaron Fox- (hamstring strain)- out
Luke Kornet- (ankle sprain)- out
Kelly Olynyk- (heel surgery)- out
Jeremy Sochan- (wrist sprain)- out
Lindy Waters III- (bilateral eye procedure)- out
Heat injuries:
Kasparas Jakučionis- (groin) – out
Terry Rozier- (away from the team while charged by the government in a betting scandal)- out
Tyler Herro- (foot/ankle surgery recovery) – out
Norman Powell- (groin) – game time decision
Nikola Jović -(hip strain)- game time decision
What to watch for:
The Heat’s need for speed
They’ve been a surprise not just because of their record without their best player, Tyler Herro (3-1), but their pace has been the fastest in the NBA. The Heat is running fewer pick-and-rolls plus handoffs, embracing the run-and-stun approach. It’s difficult to contain because playing at that speed can wear down an opponent’s legs, and sometimes the defense can’t get set. The best way to neutralize their open-court attack is to dominate the half-court, so misses don’t have the same effect as a turnover.
Keep in mind that in this stylistic clash, the Spurs are the third-slowest team in the NBA.
Size and mobility to contain Wemby plus length on the ball
The last time the Spurs and Heat saw each other was in January, and the latter waxed them. Miami at one point deployed two bigs- Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware- to slow down Victor Wembanyama, and the strategy also helped them win the rebounding battle. Expect the same thing at Frost Bank Center on Thursday, using Ware, who is the more natural shot blocker, to handle the backline and Adebayo, the modern sentry, roaming around.
Additionally, the Heat uses Andrew Wiggins to guard the other team’s best perimeter player. Anticipate having Stephon Castle bothered by him, yet Wiggins’ wiry frame could be less effective against elite strength or speed. The other pest they like to put on the ball is Davion Mitchell, who has the fastest backpedaling speed on the team, but can be shot over at 6-feet tall.
Reserve scoring
The Heat are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies, having the top scoring bench unit in the NBA (53.3). Simone Fontecchio is one to key in on, and in fact, the Italians haven’t seen shooting like his since crazy Joe Gallo was whacked. The Spurs will need to lock and trail well to guard him on the catch, and they should probably blitz him, too.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. is one of their better penetrators, and he has nifty footwork that creates separation at close range. His weakness is the 3-point shot, but he’s logging a 71.1 effective field goal percentage without it being a factor. He wants to work between 0 and 10 feet, which is where Wembanyama will be a lot of the time.
