MIAMI – The low point of this Miami Heat season?

Welcome to it, when Erik Spoelstra’s team on Monday night lost to a team that was trying to lose.

Given every opportunity to string together only their second winning streak since early January, the Heat disastrously declined the gift, falling 115-111 to the Utah Jazz at Kaseya Center.

Facing with the prospect of losing their first-round pick in June’s draft if it is not among the first eight, the Jazz pulled leading big men Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the night midway through the third quarter, with Jackson with 22 points at that stage and Markkanen with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Utah then played the entirety of the fourth quarter without four of their five starters.

And, still, the Heat could not take what was being given, albeit while paying in the injury absences of Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson and Tyler Herro.

The difference is those absences weren’t by choice, with Powell out with back pain, Larsson forearm discomfort and Herro a rib issue.

So, instead, empty numbers for the Heat, with Andrew Wiggins closing with 26 points, Kasparas Jakucionis with 20 and Bam Adebayo closing with 23 points and one rebound.

Five degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game:

— Game flow: The Heat led 32-26 at the end of the opening period, after taking an early 15-point lead. Utah then moved to a 61-52 halftime lead.

The Heat then tied it late in the third period, before Utah went into the fourth up 85-82.

From there, with the Jazz sitting their best, the Heat moved up five in the fourth quarter.

No matter, not when Utah’s Brice Sensabaugh converted a 3-pointer for a 113-111 Utah lead with 41.1 to play.

Misses on both ends followed, leaving the Heat in possession down two and out of timeouts with 8.6 seconds to play.

A wayward Jakucionis 3-point attempt later and it basically was over.

— Here’s why: So why did the Jazz sit their best for a second consecutive game when carrying a lead into a fourth quarter?

Because if Utah does not wind up with one of the first eight picks in June’s NBA draft, the pick goes to the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The protected pick dates to a 2021 Jazz trade that unloaded the contract of Derrick Favors.

This is the third year the debt has rolled over. The pick was Top 10 protected in 2024 and ’25, now down to top-eight protection.

If the pick does not go to the Thunder this season, the transaction instead will be completed solely though a cash transaction.

The Jazz also sat their top players in the fourth quarter on Saturday night in Orlando, in a loss to the Magic.

The Jazz entered Monday with the NBA’s sixth-worst record.

— More big: With Larsson and Powell out, and with the Jazz opening big, Spoelstra returned to the Adebayo-Kel’el Ware opening pairing, the first time Ware had started since the Jan. 8 loss in Minnesota.

Whether it was matchup based or the reward of a solid pairing Sunday in Washington remains to be seen.

But it certainly seemed to make sense in this one, with the Jazz opening with a front line of 7-foot Jusuf Nurkic, 7-0 Markkanen and 6-11 Jackson.

The pairing then was limited in the second half, with Ware called for his fourth foul 1:35 into the third quarter, with Ware fouling out with 10:55 to play.

Ware closed with eight points and six rebounds in his 14 minutes.

— Still going: A game after shooting 6 of 6 on 3-pointers, Jakucionis this time made his first three 3-pointers and opened 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.

With Powell out, Spoelstra played all three of his point guards early, including playing Jakucionis and Dru Smith in trandem.

Smith did not play until mop-up duty on Sunday in Washington.

Jakucionis later returned in the second period to play alongside starting point guard Davion Mitchell.

— Attack mode: After falling to 2 of 10 for the night in the third quarter, Adebayo seemingly said enough was enough, moving on to score 11 points in the period.

That effort was eased with Jackson and then Markkanen off the court for the Jazz during the bulk of that surge.

Ultimately, it still wasn’t enough.

____

Photos from the Chicago Bulls’ 136-120 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 7, 2026, at the United Center.

With the trade deadline behind them, the Nets introduced Ochai Agbaji and Josh Minott on Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center and beat the Washington Wizards 127-113, improving to 14-37 while snapping a three-game skid. The turnover that made their arrivals possible was still fresh.

Cam Thomas, Haywood Highsmith and Tyrese Martin were waived to open the door. Hunter Tyson, briefly part of the picture after a deal with the Denver Nuggets, was gone soon after he arrived. Before tipoff, Agbaji and Minott met the media, offering an early glimpse of two wings Brooklyn believes align with where it wants to go.

“We know they’re very good players, that’s why they’re here,” head coach Jordi Fernández said. “They’re good people and good players, so they fit what we’re trying to build. For me, it’s about getting to know them and giving them the opportunity without putting limitations on who I think they are. Show me what you can bring to the group, and if you can be part of this group, you can be a future Net.”

Opportunity is one thing. Identity is another. Both newcomers arrived with a clear sense of what they believe travels from team to team, and for Agbaji, it starts on the defensive end. The 25-year-old appeared in 42 games for the Toronto Raptors this season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds. After shooting 39.9% from 3-point range last year, he entered the afternoon at 18.5% this season on 65 attempts.

Fernández believes Agbaji can return to being the outside threat he once was.

“The conversations have been good, brief,” Agbaji said. “There’s been a lot going on, but [Jordi] told me he wants me here, that he sees a lot more in me and what I can bring to this team. For me it’s about getting back to myself and who I know I can be. That’s super important in this league and it’s what I work for and what I’m trying to show again.”

And there’s at least one built-in comfort for Agbaji. He’s reunited with Jalen Wilson, a former college teammate from Kansas’ national championship run, and said being back in a locker room with him makes Brooklyn “feel even more like home.”

“We played three years together and went through ups and downs, and we ended my career there winning a national championship, which was great,” Agbaji said. “I actually knew him before he came to Kansas. I hosted him on his recruiting visit. I’ve known him a long time and seen him grow. Ending up teammates with him again is great.

Minott’s journey was different, but the foundation sounds familiar. Originally drafted in 2022, he comes over from the Boston Celtics after appearing in 33 games and averaging 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds. The opportunities he carved out there, he said, were rooted in “hunger” and “desperation,” traits he believes translate no matter the jersey.

The 23-year-old said the defensive identity in Brooklyn already mirrors what he values, with an emphasis on pressure and disruption. He added that his shooting has progressed to the point where he trusts it as a real strength and believes in taking the right, open looks when they’re there. What he sees in the Nets is a young group wired to play that way. And the reset, in his mind, doesn’t change his personal standard.

“For me it’s about staying true to the values I’ve learned over my three and a half years in the league, especially the work ethic,” Minott said. “I’ve been around some winning organizations. Understanding what we did right and what it takes to make those playoff pushes, it’s about bringing that over.”

Defense is the entry point for Agbaji and Minott. It’s what stands out on both résumés and what Brooklyn keeps insisting it wants to be about. For Fernández, that shows up immediately in how you defend at the point of attack.

“Ball pressure is our first staple,” Fernández said. “Every time you can apply ball pressure, full court or half court, you can create turnovers and deflections and make the other team uncomfortable and late in the clock. We believe those guys can do that and I’m excited to watch them play.”

Agbaji and Minott, still learning the system, didn’t play against the Wizards, but the Nets didn’t need much depth in a matchup between two teams expected to slide down the stretch in pursuit of draft position. Brooklyn entered the afternoon with a clean injury report, but Washington had just eight available players and a lengthy list of absences that included Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Cam Whitmore and Tre Johnson.

The Nets’ 46 points in the first quarter were their most in any period this season and their highest-scoring quarter since 2003. Brooklyn’s 80 points in the first half were also a season high and their most in a half since 2022, and they led by as many as 34. While the Wizards won the second half 66-47 and trimmed the deficit to 12 with 2:10 left, Brooklyn had done enough early to hold on for the win.

Michael Porter Jr. led seven Brooklyn players in double figures with 23 points, while Will Riley fueled Washington’s comeback attempt with 27.

The Nets return to action Monday when they host the Chicago Bulls.

WASHINGTON — The juxtaposition could not be any clearer the next two games for the Miami Heat.

On one hand, you have Erik Spoelstra and his now-perennial play-in team living in the moment, even if the moment has the Heat at 27-26 and coming off a disastrous Friday night loss to the Boston Celtics at the start of this two-game trip, when even a 22-point lead was not good enough.

On the other hand, you have a pair of upcoming opponents who have left little doubt about their need to lose as a means of creating hope.

Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena, it will be against the Washington Wizards and their annual race to the bottom, with the Wizards having sat out Trae Young since since his Jan. 9 trade arrival from the Atlanta Hawks, and now with word that prime trade-deadline acquisition Anthony Davis will not suit up for them this season.

Then Monday night at Kaseya Center, the opponent will be the Utah Jazz, a team that even while making the forward-thinking acquisition of Jaren Jackson Jr. at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline is well aware it only keeps its June lottery pick by closing with one of the league’s eight worst records.

Losing by winning.

As an NBA way of life.

And then there are the Heat, who also possess their own draft pick this June, with no strings attached, positioned to gain a lottery seed either through losing now or being eliminated in the play-in round.

Their approach? Full steam ahead, even while having won consecutive games only once since Jan. 1.

So in Friday night’s loss in Boston, when a case could have been made for youth in the wake of inaction at Thursday’s trade deadline . . . no minutes for rookie Kasparas Jakucionis, a mere 9:32 for 2024 first-round pick Kel’el Ware and 6:22 for 22-year-old Nikola Jovic.

To Spoelstra the approach remains that youth will be served when deserved, and even then not at the cost of one more victory, even amid the seemingly inescapable reality of a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in round.

“We’re not going to prioritize something over winning,” Spoelstra said ahead of Friday night’s loss, a game when 30-year-old Simone Fontecchio played 19:28, despite closing 0 for 5 from the field, with just two points, a game when Andrew Wiggins, who turns 31 in two weeks, played 38:22, albeit with 26 points. “Winning is going to be the bottom line. Take it or leave it, like it or not. That’s what the Miami Heat is about. We’re competing to win.”

To their credit, such an approach did have the Heat positioned for the victory had point guard Davion Mitchell made an open 3-point attempt from the left corner with 2.7 seconds to play in what instead was a 98-96 loss that had both teams scoreless in the final 1:31.

To Spoelstra, the gifting of minutes to youth would send the wrong message. In support of his approach, Jovic managed to finish a Heat-worst 14 in his Friday night minutes, with the Heat also outscored in Ware’s limited time.

“You have to earn your minutes,” Spoelstra said of his rotation approach. “We’re not gifting minutes to anyone. We have more young players playing in the rotation than we’ve had in a long time, and that’s this balance that I’m embracing.”

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All, Spoelstra said, also with an eye for the future, but not with an eye on the race for the bottom being favored at the moment by the Wizards and Jazz.

“Develop these players, infuse them with confidence, but also hold them accountable to our standard,” Spoelstra continued of what he considers a workable approach. “The standard is not going to change, and we feel that players improve the quickest when there’s an accountability to winning, when they’re not just empty minutes that are being gifted to someone.”

And when the youth produces in such moments, Spoelstra said it is all the more gratifying.

“It’s art, not necessarily science,” he said of the approach. “But our young guys are getting a lot better. And they’re playing and contributing. And it’s exciting.

“We want our fan base excited about this young group. And we want our team excited about the youthful exuberance that they’re bringing our locker room. And there’s a big upside.”

Although the Magic only made one move ahead of the NBA trade deadline — Orlando sent veteran guard Tyus Jones and two second-round picks to Charlotte in exchange for cash considerations — team president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman revealed Thursday the franchise considered making other deals in hopes of improving its roster.

Ultimately, however, the Magic didn’t roll the dice on any other trades beyond moving Jones late Wednesday night.

Weltman doesn’t believe that’s a sign of complacency or due to a lack of aggression by the organization that entered Thursday’s game against Brooklyn 2-8 in its last 10 games and 8th in the East during a season that came with high expectations.

“We’re aggressive 365 days a year,” he said at the AdventHealth Training Center. “And I think we’re not afraid to make bolds as I think last summer showed. The answer to frustration isn’t just to make a move just for the sake of making a move. One thing to understand is the way that our team is set up right now with contracts and timing, for us to make a significant move means that we have to break into the core.

“That core has been excellent when it’s been on the floor together,” he added. “… So, for us to break up that core, it’s going to have to be a significant move. I will tell you, we had some substantiative talks that I thought could have gone somewhere. Obviously they did not, they didn’t materialize but it wasn’t for a lack of pushing, for a lack of urgency. Our mission is to improve this team. We’re never taking a day off from that. It’s just that we’re not going to do something just for the sake of doing it.”

To Weltman’s point, Orlando’s opening night lineup of Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. ranked sixth league-wide in net rating (plus-18) among all five-man lineups in the league who had played at least 115 minutes together entering Thursday’s slate of games, according to NBA.com.

But for the second season in a row, the Magic have been plagued by injuries to key players.

Suggs has missed 20 games due to injury, including seven (Dec. 18-29) because of a left hip contusion and eight (Jan. 4-22) with a grade 1 right knee MCL bruise. Banchero has missed 10 games (Nov. 14-Dec. 3) due to a left groin strain. Wagner missed his eighth straight Thursday due to left high ankle sprain injury management after he already sat out 16 (Dec. 9-Jan. 11) due because of the original injury.

Even Carter missed two games due to injury: one (Nov. 23) due to a left ankle sprain and another (Jan. 11) due to a right hip strain.

Among Orlando’s opening night lineup, only Bane had been available for each of the first 49 games of the season.

“It’s concerning,” Weltman said when the Sentinel asked him how concerning it is to him that the team’s core hasn’t been able to remain healthy this season and last. “Every team has injuries, but it’s having these prolonged injuries. All I can say is, these are soft tissue injuries. What can you say? It’s the NBA and this is what happens sometimes.

“I do feel like we’re a little bit ‘Groundhog Day,’ with this season,” Weltman added. “The only thing is, I also think we’re better this year because we added Desmond Bane. So, I hate to keep saying it, but when this team has been healthy, it’s been really good.”

Still, Orlando at times this season has fallen away from its defensive identity, which in turn has stumped its offensive output.

Entering Thursday, the Magic were 16th in defensive rating (114.6) and 20th in offensive rating (113.5), which resulted in a net rating (minus-1.1) that sat 19th, according to NBA.com.

Last year, the team ended the regular season second in defensive rating league-wide (109.1) and 27th in offensive rating (108.9), which left them with a net rating (minus-0.2) that ended 17th in the NBA.

After opening this season 13-8, the Magic have gone 12-16 since Dec. 3.

“I don’t like the state of the team right now,” Weltman said. “We’re not playing well and I think it’s been a little while that we haven’t been playing well. I would imagine our fans our frustrated by the way we’re playing and I’m frustrated with them.

“I remain optimistic about the rest of the season and it’s on us to turn this thing around,” he added. “There’s still over a third of the season left and we’re right in the thick of the race. We’ve got to get it done.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com