ROCKETS at HEAT FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS February 28 2026

Where else would you rather be? Everybody loves a matinee, all the basketball, but earlier today from Kaseya Center in downtown Miami, it's the first meeting of the season between two teams with big dreams. You got a Houston Rockets team currently playing the best basketball of their season, taking on an Eric Spolster-led Miami Heat team that typically gets hot right about now. It's the Rockets, it's the Heat. Let's do it, everybody. Let's start with Miami. Davion Mitchell, Tyler Hero, bam, out of bio. Andrew Wiggins and Pele Larson. Notice that there is no Norman Powell. Norman Powell is gonna be out for a bit. He's got a groin injury, so Tyler Hero, who had been coming off the bench, will start. Similar change for the Houston Rockets. Jabari Smith is not in uniform, has an ankle injury. Happened a couple of days ago. Reed Shepard has been promoted to the starting lineup with Ahmed Thompson. The Greybeard, Kevin Durant, the young Perk Alperen, Shen Goon, and Tari Eaton's had a nice all-around season. Mark Lindsey, Derek Collins also working the whistles, and we're underway. Tap is won by Houston. Clearly instructed to go break next speed. That's Larson, coast-to-coast, Pele Larson. Right off the board, nobody stops the ball, and he gets a layup in the Heat on the board. How quickly did he get the job done? Shen Goon, all-star each of the last two years, hands it off to Thompson. Thompson's a dunk waiting to happen. Turn around, up and in. Wow, nice shot. As a college player, Mitchell earning the nickname off-night, because what he can do defensively. Put offensive players in a funk. Back-to-back mid-rangers. Offensive rebound, Wiggins. Knocked away by Durant. Durant pushes it up to Shepard. Reed Shepard, much improved now in his second year. Shen Goon with a touch. He's a magician in the paint. Finds Thompson. Bumble to catch, still gets it to go. Shen Goon starts 40 feet away from the cup. Shen Goon leads all NBA players in hooks converted. Something about Europeans in the hook shot. Another European with the ball. This is Larson. He's from Sweden, and the Swede spins it up and in. Durant with length and instincts. Oh my goodness, deep one. Reed Shepard feeling the vapors. To 150 made threes on the season for Shepard. After the timeout, corner three, Davion Mitchell up and in. Shepard already with six points for the Houston Rockets. Turnover. Davion Mitchell wins the race the other way. With hands right there about out of bio. Wiggins, three-pointer. They can read that ball coming out the rim just like Davion Mitchell did. Kept the possession alive. Gets Mitchell on the board. There's your first shot of the game for Kevin Durant. It is a matter of time. They're gonna give him space right there at the free throw line. No dribble required. Tyler Hero. First three. Kevin Durant scored last time he touched the basketball. Eason extra pass Thompson. That is the fourth field goal here in the first quarter for Thompson. We have not had a substitution so far in our ball game. That's the first make by Bam out of bio. Houston's gone to the bench. They bring in Clint Capella. Pride of Switzerland. Kevin Durant, he's the type of guy you don't wanna get mad. You do not wanna poke the bear of Kevin Durant. Don't go pulling on Superman's cape. Freshly into the game, the guy who was named for Superman. Hawkeyes. Off the window and in. You see the space. Shot clock's at five. That's the separator. Just elevates on top of everyone. Hawkeyes. Accepting the challenge. Takes it to Thompson. He has the green light coming off the bench. Fontecchio working the baseline. Whips it out to out of bio. Three pointer for Idris. Bam out of bio. Bam out of bio, three-time all-star, two-time Olympic gold medalist. Hawkeyes. Again, that's what he does. Hawkeyes has been a big story. Now Smith. Welcome to the game, Drew Smith. That's why you give it to Javi Hawkeyes in the quarters. Smart player, gonna make the right decision. Squeeze the D, find the open shooter. Thompson. That was a heck of a ball fake, wasn't it? The bounce after the ball fake, the hang in the air with the left hand. Talking to fans in the stands. Ware bobbles the pass. Bounces it to Hawkeyes. Never used his left hand. How about the awareness of Hawkeyes. And Drew Smith, the five on the floor for Eric Spolstra. Heat lead by six. Out of bio. Soft touch. And they're being taught by some of the best veterans in the league. Fontecchio. Ware on the second attempt, it falls. Out of bio. Caps it in. Good patience there. Holliday. Finally something falls for him. Eason. Offensive rebound. Uncle Jeff. Shingoon. Right place, right time. Air ball. Extra pass to Shepard. Shingoon. Back to back field goals. And now Miami. First nine points of the quarter. Houston scored the last seven consecutive. Wiggins stems the tide. Time to avoid that, getting in the top six. Bam, out of bio. Said, we do not want to get in the play-in for the fourth year in a row. So hard, takes so much energy. Look at the power of that. Here comes Thompson. Leaves it for Durant. Swooping. Left-handed layup by the Slim Reaper. Rockets playing without Jabari Smith, who's gonna be out for a bit. He's got an ankle. Oh, Shepard splashes his third triple. He's feeling it right there, didn't he? One-point game. Hero. Three-pointer for Hero. Oh, he's got some. Hero. Got that on top of Durant. Nice physicality right there by Hero. Ball's in the right hands. Durant's got it. Shepard. Hotter than a pepper sprout. Fourth. He checked. Thompson back out to Shepard. Durant. Houston has tied the game at 48. Durant for a deep triple. Wiggins. Ball finds out of bio. Thompson. Everything he does is quick. No doubt. He's really good moving inside the paint. Maybe the final touch of the first half for Houston. Chengun to give the assist to Durant. Shot clock's off, 15 seconds remaining. Wiggins. Give the assist to Hero. Mitchell keeps the dribble alive. Hero, right place, right time. I think Mitchell's fleet to go out early before the season started, but you have a guy like Chengun that you can facilitate your offense through. Larson with the left hand. A lot of heat off of Shepard and other guys that is forced to play the point, and look at Bam out of bio. Just ran right past Chengun. Durant from the free throw line. Taking life difficult for Shepard right now. Tari Eason, a whole bunch of nothing in that first half. Finally gets something to fall. He had been 0 for 4 in 19. All history majors. Norman Powell too. Must be a thing. Off the window and in by Thompson. Didn't mean to. Thompson. Five on the floor for Houston. Eason. That wasn't in his hands very long. No doubt. He got one to go down in the mid-range game, and for NBA players to see that ball go through the hoop, then you got that confidence, and he's a tough shot right there. You said it. Catch and a quick release. Out of bio. Gets it right back from Miami. He knew it was down. Bam knocks down. He's actually 78%, slightly above the league average. I mean, they could get a little bit more arc on him. Out of bio! Bam's got 10 in the quarter right now, putting the heat on his back. He's got the last eight for the home team. Thompson knew exactly where Capella was. Talk about, that probably would have been a walk back when I was in the league, but he gets away because of it. Pella Larson, the Swede. Mitchell! Fans are looking for his first dunk of the year. He didn't. Not so much with Capella, so the zone, by the heat, causing problems for the Rockets right now. Chen Goon standing with four fouls. Durant! Off balance. Intensity picking up here in Miami. Under five minutes to play third quarter. Hero survives contact. Doreian Finney-Smith heading to the scores table. He'll come in next whistle. Great pass. Durant finds Capella! And Capella gets it to fall. Chance for a three-point play. Houston gets high or take the lead. This time down the floor. Oh my goodness. When you're nice to your mama, that shot goes in. Kel-El Ware has come in for Miami. Capella stumbles into a layup. At that, a couple of nice feeds to the big man. Tyler Hero hangs and hits. Gambling out top. Hero spits it over. Oh, the young kid, Yaka Chonus, had a chance. It's finished off by Ware. Good catch by Capella. Nowhere to go, though. Blocked by the equipment. Two on one. I tell you, what a two on one. No doubt. Jaquez. Hero. How soft was that? Six-point lead for the locals. Oh, Durant gets it back. He catches the ball. Three guys are around him. Shot clock's down to six. Shepard, a steal. He's got springs. Dunk of the year for Reed Shepard. Shot clock's off. Jaquez always plays the ends of quarters. And Jaquez is ridden by Eason. Are they gonna give a continuation? Jeff Green, the gray-beard, into the game. Had some good minutes in the first half. Shed and go. Welcome back to the floor. Another soft shot. To the rim. Caleb Jaquez. Another in-close bucket for Jaime Jaquez. Got a roll in Canada. Jaquez. Only knows how to play one way. Yes, he does. Larson. Stops on a dime. Leaves change. Miami doing this without Ben Adebayo in the game. Eason, that's an important one for Dari Eason. Holiday Shingun. Green, Thompson, and Eason. Shed and go. Missed to the left hand. There's Uncle Jeff. You gotta sit down and guard defensively, and then move, take advantage of the mismatches. Calloway to the rim. His third dunk. Eric Spolster knows exactly what he's doing. Not everybody, just to know. The right one's gotta like you. 14 lead changes, nine ties. Larson. Three ball. Larson having a night. Rebounded by Shingun. Durant. He tosses it up there so softly. Mitchell. Run out opportunity for Houston. Durant. Always under control. Nothing you can do right there when you got. Durant. Shot clock's at four. Dumped up and in by Eason. He went too early that time. He's gotta wait until Shingun has to go out and guard his guy. Had to go around. A lot of respect. Officials did not blow the whistle when Larson hit the deck. Kevin Durant does not care who's in front of him. He's a man on a mission right now. Bam out of pile. Touched by Eason, and Ware able to hang in the leg long enough to make this. Shingun. High on top of Ware. Wow. Pennies from heaven. Much needed. Screen for Shepard. Doesn't use it. Durant, too strong. Long rebound. Popped away by Wiggins. In Houston, in the month of March. Over the last three minutes and 40 seconds when this game was still in doubt, the Heat closed on an 11 to four run. They did the small things that you need to do to win a ball game. That's what's gonna come out of his mouth, success, because that's exactly what's happened here tonight. Andrew, I just wanna ask you, first of all, is that what it takes to go to the back to get a few stitches to come back out into Super Saiyan mode, and then come and deliver the win here on the home floor? I mean, definitely. It's part of the game, you know? Stuff is gonna happen. You know, if you're able to play, you go back out there and you battle. You know, come out, join the team, and we got the win, so. I wanna ask you, first of all, in terms of the tussles, the game management, the back and forth, the lead changes, was it as fun to play in as it was to watch us engage as a fan? For sure. You know, these games are always fun. You know, good atmosphere, the fans are out. Good competitive team. They're third in the West, you know, so they're a good team, so it was a competitive game. We needed this. We needed to get back on track, and this is a good win to, you know, get that done. Glad that you said that you needed this, because the consistency was a common theme between you and your teammates today, so that you're no longer a play-in team as you've been hearing so fervently. I wanna know, what is the building blocks now? How do you go forward from here? I mean, we're top five in offense, top five in defense, so we know where we belong, where we should be, but we gotta keep putting the work and be consistent to get there. You can see it. You see they're putting the work in, and no doubt about it, they're looking like they wanna get there. Enjoy the night.