Heat's Slow Start: One Win in Five Games, While Injuries Pile Up Across the NBA
Miami's first win did not arrive until the fifth game of the season, and the Heat's uneven start sits inside a league-wide injury wave that put 108 names on the NBA's injury report in the season's first full week.
The Miami Heat's first five games of the season brought a 25-point loss to Minnesota, a 17-point loss to Detroit, a 5-point loss to Charlotte and a 4-point loss to Dallas before the team's first win arrived against Indiana — the 145-125 NBA Cup opener this station covered on Friday night. A week and a half into the 2026-27 season, that start has Miami looking, in the assessment of one early-season league review, less like an immediate contender and more like a team still searching for its shape.
The individual numbers tell a split story, as reported in that review: Giannis Antetokounmpo has started strongly, averaging 27.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists, while Bam Adebayo has opened slowly at 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, with two games scoring 8 points or fewer. The same review noted reduced production from Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, perimeter struggles and a bottom-10 defensive start for the team — along with the contractual backdrop that Antetokounmpo, who has not signed an extension with Miami, could become a free agent in the summer of 2027.
Miami's start is part of a wider league picture: the NBA's injury report on Wednesday, October 28, listed 108 names, 84 of them out with an injury or illness, a total that kept growing as the league closed its first full week. For the Heat, the immediate task is simpler than the league-wide debate — turn one high-scoring win into a second before the slow start hardens into the season's storyline.
