With their season hanging in the balance, the Miami Heat found their fire late. Duncan Robinson scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, Tyler Herro added 20, and the Miami Heat pulled away down the stretch to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-105 on Monday night at Kaseya Center. The win keeps Miami (36-43) in the thick of the Eastern Conference play-in race with just three games left in the regular season.
Rookie big man Kel’el Ware delivered one of his best performances of the season with 19 points and 17 rebounds, and Davion Mitchell ran the offense efficiently with 12 points and nine assists. Miami played without three key veterans — Bam Adebayo (back spasms), Kevin Love (personal reasons), and Andrew Wiggins (hamstring) — but still found enough depth to overcome the shorthanded 76ers.
Philadelphia, now mired in a 12-game losing streak, got strong efforts from Quentin Grimes and Lonnie Walker IV, who each scored 29. Adem Bona chipped in with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to halt the skid. The 76ers fell to 24-55, with one road game remaining before closing a season that has unraveled largely due to injuries.
“This season was no doubt a huge disappointment,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse admitted. “It started bad, stayed bad, and it’s going to end bad.” Nurse started four players on Monday night who weren’t even on the roster to begin the season.
After three quarters of back-and-forth action, the game was tied at 88 early in the fourth. Then Miami flipped the switch. A 16-3 run — sparked by Robinson’s hot shooting and Herro’s playmaking — broke the game open and gave the Heat a 104-91 lead with 4:22 remaining. Miami never looked back.
The Heat have now gone six straight games without trailing by double digits, their longest such streak since February 2022 — a sign of consistency at the right time. Monday’s win moved them just a half-game behind No. 9 Chicago (36-42), who they face in a crucial play-in positioning game on Wednesday. Miami is also just 1.5 games behind No. 8 Atlanta (37-41) and 2.5 behind No. 7 Orlando (38-40).
Andrew Wiggins, acquired midseason, has now missed 15 of Miami’s 30 games since joining the team. “He’s getting close,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, hopeful the veteran wing could return before the regular season ends.
The 76ers will wrap up their road schedule Wednesday night in Washington. Meanwhile, the Heat head to Chicago for a pivotal showdown that could determine homecourt advantage in the 9-10 play-in matchup.
With just a few games left, Miami appears to be heating up at the right time — and Monday’s win may have been their biggest yet.
