Why Erik Spoelstra isn’t freaking out despite a tough loss to the Magic

As Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier has been arrested The FBI played the team’s close loss to the Orlando Magic in the season opener, 125-121, on Thursday morning in connection with sports betting. While it is The Heat had an unknown outlook for the 2025-26 season in the style they wanted to play, the head coach Erik Spoelstra he would speak positively about the team despite the loss.

While there are no moral victories in any sport, as Spoelstra notes, it can’t be denied that there were plenty of good signs from the outing, especially in the effort to play at a faster pace. Finishing near the bottom of the league the last few seasons in pace, they recorded 111.5 possessions per 48 minutes, which would have finished as the fastest pace in the league last season.

What it led to was early production as the team scored 39 points, knocking down three-pointers to Orlando, though as the game wore on they struggled on the offensive glass and turnovers. Either way, Spoelstra was “encouraged” by the game.

“It was a hell of a basketball game, going back and forth,” Spoelstra said via the team’s YouTube page. “It’s a little different stylistically than the previous Heat-Magic Games, but the competitive nature was definitely present in both teams.”

“But I’m encouraged by more things than not from this game. And I’m not looking for moral victories,” Spoelstra continued. “I’m not talking about it at all, but there are definitely things we can build on and have a winnable game on the road.”

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on players ‘gaining confidence’

With Heat star Tyler Hero missed the start of the seasoneveryone stepped up, including rookie Norman Powell, who scored 28 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists. Other plays are also included Bam Adebayowho had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and even Davion Mitchell with 16 points and 12 assists.

The fast pace would slow down a bit in the second half, though Miami outscored Orlando 26-21 in the third quarter, but ultimately fell as the team had seven turnovers in the game’s final nine minutes. In total, the Heat had 19 turnovers, which led to 25 Magic points.

Still, Spoelstra would continue to see players “get more comfortable” in this new style of offense.

“Of course it slows down a little bit in the fourth, but I think it’s still going to get better,” Spoelstra said. “The guys are getting more comfortable. We still haven’t had a game where we could do that consistently, but it’s on the way. We scored a good number of points through three quarters, and we’re doing it a little easier than we have been. The guys are gaining confidence, the ball is moving great, even at the end, we got a great win.”

Miami will look to improve their fast-paced style as their next game is on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.