ORLANDO – At the start, it was off to the races, 77 total points in the first quarter, 134 in the first half.
In no way did this resemble anything even close to Miami Heat vs. Orlando Magic.
And then Wednesday night’s season opener at Kia Center turned into something more along the lines of they are what they thought they are.
With less sizzle with the shooting and more determination by the defense, the Magic outlasted the Heat 125-121, with their offensive rebounding proving to be the difference, just as it was in the Heat’s two preseason losses to Orlando.
That’s not to say it wasn’t the good fight by the Heat against an opponent poised for bigger things this season.
In his Heat debut, Norman Powell led the Heat with 28 points, with the Heat also getting 18 from Andrew Wiggins and 16 from Davion Mitchell. Mitchell added 12 assists, with Adebayo closing with 12 rebounds.
Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 24 points apiece, with the Magic also getting 23 from newcomer Desmond Bane.
For the Heat it now is on to a Friday night game against the Memphis Grizzlies to complete this two-game trip, before Sunday’s home opener against the New York Knicks at Kaseya Center.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s night’s season opener:
1. Closing time: The Heat took a 91-90 lead into the fourth quarter.
From there, playing with a unit of Powell as the only starter on the court, the Heat moved ahead 107-99 midway through the final period.
With Adebayo and other starters back in the mix, the Heat again went up eight, before the Magic’s relentless attack on the offensive glass put them up 115-113 with 3:49 to play, completing an 11-2 run.
The lead went back and forth from there, before a Wiggins 3-pointer tied it 119-119 with 73 seconds to play.
But that’s when a Jalen Suggs jumper moved Orlando to a 121-119 lead with 58.7 seconds left, with a pair of Bane free throws making it 123-119 with 37 seconds left.
A Powell driving dunk got the Heat within 123-121 with 30 seconds to play, with yet another Magic offensive rebound proving costly with 6.1 seconds left, effectively ending it.
2. Everyone scores: The Heat went up 12 in the first period and took a 39-38 lead into the second.
The Heat’s 39 first-quarter points was the second-highest total in an opening period in an opener in franchise history, only to the 40 against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.
From there, the Magic moved to a 69-65 halftime lead, with both teams over 50% from the field and each at .444 on 3-pointers in the first half.
3. Rotation revelation: In what hardly came as a surprise based on how coach Erik Spoelstra worked his lineups before Nikola Jovic went out with back pain in the preseason, the Heat opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Powell, Mitchell, Jovic and Wiggins.
That had Kel’el Ware, who had been statistically dominant during the preseason, playing in reserve in the power rotation after closing his rookie season as a starter.
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Wednesday night’s lineup choice likely was a factor of Tyler Herro being sidelined since last month’s ankle surgery, with Jovic able to compensate with his shooting and passing.
4. The other choices: The other lineup question amid Herro’s absence had been the starting choice at point guard.
Mitchell, who closed last season as a starter, got the call ahead of Dru Smith and immediately went into attack mode, getting into the paint for assists, also providing a threat from the 3-point line.
Mitchell was up to eight assists through three periods.
Entering the night, the Heat opening-night record for assists was 12 by Tim Hardaway on Nov. 1, 1996 against the Atlanta Hawks, a record now tied by Mitchell.
Another decision by Spoelstra was going with Jaime Jaquez Jr., in the wake of a breakthrough preseason, ahead of Pelle Larsson in the rotation. Ultimately, Simone Fontecchio also stood as a rotation choice ahead of Larsson.
5. Powell-ful debut: Powell had 11 points in his opening nine-minute stint, opening the Heat scoring with a 3-pointer and then converted three free throws when fouled on a 3-point shot on his next attempt.
The opening stint for the Heat’s prime offseason acquisition also included two rebounds and two assists, as Powell kept going from there.
Powell closed with nine rebounds and four assists.
