Heat go bust in NBA Cup: No trip to Vegas after 117-108 loss to Magic extends skid to 4

ORLANDO, Fla. — At the outset Tuesday night, it was as if the Miami Heat already had passage booked to Las Vegas for the final two rounds of the NBA Cup.

A 15-0 lead can do that.

Not so fast ... as Vegas baby turned into Vegas maybe and then, ultimately, leaving Las Vegas.

In the end, Erik Spoelstra’s team failed, snake eyes of a lost opportunity the ultimate result of a 117-108 loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center.

So on to the NBA Cup and the Vegas Strip for the Magic, and back to the regular season for the Heat.

With all of an early 16-point lead lost by the midpoint of the second period, and with the Magic later pushing to that margin in the fourth quarter, the Heat now get a multi-day reset instead of an additional payday, after falling to 0-3 this season against their intrastate rival.

Having made it to the in-season tournament’s knockout round for the first time in the event’s three years, Heat players each received a $53,093 NBA Cup bonus just for stepping on the court Tuesday night.

But now it is the Magic cashing in, upping their individual Cup bonuses to $106,187, with the opportunity to lift that to $106,187 per player by advancing Saturday to the Cup final, where the bonus for championship players rises to $530,933 per player.

For the Heat, the reality of a four-game losing streak, a 14-11 record, with extra time now on the practice court.

The Heat got 21 points from Norman Powell and 20 from Tyler Herro, as well as 19 apiece from Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins.

But it wasn’t enough to offset the 37 points of Magic forward Desmond Bane, who did it while playing through foul trouble.

5 degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game

— Game flow: The Heat busted out to a 15-0 lead that then moved to 18-2, before the Heat closed the opening period up 30-17.

The Magic then came back to take a three-point read in the second period, before the Heat went into halftime up 57-56.

The Magic then pushed their lead to seven in the third period and went into the fourth up 89-83.

From there, the Magic went up 16 early in the fourth, and held on from there.

— All present (at outset): Every eligible player on the Heat roster was available at the outset, the only absentee being Terry Rozier, who is on NBA leave in light of the FBI’s gambling investigation.

That necessitated several adjustments for Spoelstra, including moving Kel’el Ware out of the starting lineup to accommodate the returns of Herro and Davion Mitchell.

With a starting lineup of Adebayo, Herro, Powell, Mitchell and Wiggins, Spoelstra then went with a first four off the bench of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Ware, Pelle Larsson and Simone Fontecchio.

That had Dru Smith initially out of the mix, after not practicing Monday and being on the injury report earlier in the day Tuesday with a left hip contusion.

Again out of the rotation was Nikola Jovic.

— Larsson lost: However, the Heat then lost Larsson in the second period with a sprained left ankle, which was after Larsson returned from a one-game absence due to tightness in his right hip flexor.

Larsson wound up going 10 minutes, with two points and two rebounds.

That had Smith checking in for the first time at the midpoint of the third period.

Shuffled out of the second-half rotation was Fontecchio after his 0 for 5 first half on his 30th birthday.

— Herro harm: Herro was back after missing the previous two games with a toe contusion, scoring nine points in his opening seven minutes stint, before asking out.

With the performance, Herro extended his career-best streak of games with 20 or more points to 16, dating to last season.

However, he was not his typical 3-point threat, at 0 for 6 from beyond the arc, still one 3-pointer shy of joining Duncan Robinson as the only players with 1,000 or more with the Heat.

With the loss, the Heat are now 2-2 in games when Herro and Powell both are available.

— What next?: With the loss, the Heat will fill out their regular-season schedule with one of two options, based on the result of the other NBA Cup East quarterfinal on Tuesday night, between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.

With a New York win, the Heat will host the Raptors next Monday, to round out a full 41-game home schedule.

With a Raptors win, the Heat would play Sunday at New York, leaving the Heat with only 40 home games this season, and 42 road games. Under such a scenario, the Heat previously announced they would utilize their default season-ticket policy of, “Season Ticket Members would receive an account credit equal to the face value of their ticket(s) for one game. Credits may be used for future purchases, such as 2026-27 season ticket renewals, 2026 Postseason tickets, or individual game tickets.”

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