Larsson, Ware, Mitchell, Powell, Spoelstra | Postgame Interviews | November 17, 2025

Larsson, Ware, Mitchell, Powell, Spoelstra | Postgame Interviews | November 17, 2025

Hela lower scoring game than you guys are are used to playing. Sort of classic Heat Knicks here. What’ you make of that one? Uh it was tough. You know, both both teams were making their runs at different times of the game, but I think we just did a lot better job rebounding today and then we did last game and uh that’s why we won. For you was a strong start offensively in the first quarter, but particularly in the third quarter there. You draw two fouls on Carl Anthony Sounds, get him out of the game. you draw a charge yourself. What was sort of your mindset headed out of the locker room at halftime that allowed you to be so aggressive and effective to start the second half? Uh I mean me and Davon just talked to each other like we got to be the two most energetic players on the court. So uh we kind of hold each other accountable on that and that helps a lot. Um, our broadcast sort of described you as a as a great connector for this team, doing all of the little things. What sort of pride do you take in no matter which lineup is out there, the starters, the reserves, a combination of both, being able to be a uniter of this team? Yeah, I mean, I think everyone is just trying to make winning plays whenever they’re on the court. So, I mean, that’s just basics of basketball, trying to make the winning play every time. Uh, so I don’t really think about it or whatever. I’m just out there playing, having fun. I know you take great pride in the defensive end for you guys tonight. You pulled the Knicks team to just nine made threes. How were you able to do it? I mean, I think uh the ones that we gave up, we kind of overh helped a little bit and then uh we saw that and adjusted and they started playing a lot oneonone to try to get us to collapse and then kick out for three and and then we kind of just stopped helping and trust everyone to guard one-on-one and then they’re going to score a few points like that, but in the end, I mean, it worked. And finally, what do you think you guys can take from a win like this one moving forward to head into this Warriors game on Wednesday and and the games after that to be able to string together, you know, several wins in a row? Uh yeah, I mean, string together and then definitely bounce back from from tough tough losses, too, is something we’re looking to do. And and now, I mean, we got a good team coming in that we don’t get to see much. So, it’ll be really exciting and I’m sure everyone will be extra pumped up and it’s just going to be a fun game. How important was it for you to play with force down the stretch and maybe turn things from the way they had gone previously in those situations? I mean, like you said, you know, just playing with more force, playing more aggression. Um, you know, it’s just, you know, showing that it’s not, you know, easy push down there. So, when they called and did you have any reason to be worried or did you know you got it? No, I knew that wasn’t good. I knew that was no good to me. What is advice? D was pretty vocal about he texted you after the game about the rebounding. How much does that mean to you? You reaches out and how did you kind of take it these last few days to improve for tonight? Yeah, I mean um you know with UD reaching out well me and you always text him but um you know just telling me you know he’s one of you know the main had on rebounding. So, you know, hearing it from him and, you know, hearing that he wants me to be better at that, you know, it’s like I obviously say it’s more motivation for me to go and, you know, pursue more, especially work on, you know, my body getting better at that. Coach was talking about how even your scores at the end, they were scores of force that instead of flipping, you went solid and you went hard. Are you starting to more of that that in those situations, it has to be definitive instead of finesse? Yeah. No, for sure. Um, it’s got to be more towards the rim where you, you know, you got to make the ref call a foul. So, um, you know, like I said, you know, he’s playing more aggressive, you know, being more aggressive and just making it more known. I would say a lot of times you’re the only big man out there. Is it in the final sequence when they did two offensive rebounds? What’s that scrum like when all you’re trying to do is get the ball and somehow the other team still gets it and has to be another fight? I mean, you know, well, it starts off with me, you know, boxing out the the other center. Well, I wasn’t at that moment, but boxing out first and, you know, just hoping that the guards, you know, do their job as well. about the day not able to get a re and I had to do what I did and you know help that person out and you know block. So Dave, can you just kind of talk about like the the absolute frenzy on that last possession? Uh just the craziness of it all and and again just in general obviously the the win as well. Yeah, it was a great win. Um I mean I think that they got the jump out obviously and kind of was in scramble mode. It came downhill. Um Deuce went to his left. I kind of bumped him a little bit and and then Khil had a great contest. Made him shoot the ball extremely high. Obviously, they got the rebound, but he did a good job of still contesting that. Um I mean, he just did a really good job of just swarming and helping out for the helping out on the backside. There was a lot of deuce attacking you and then you attacking Deuce on the other side. What was that battle like with him tonight? Yeah, I mean, uh Duce is a guy that we used to we used to go at each other in college when we played for West Virginia. and I play for Bailey obviously and he was uh one of those those tough guards tough defensive minded who get downhill can shoot the ball. I mean he works extremely hard so I kind of know him and and his his hometown people. Um so he’s a guy that’s that’s is really good in this league especially for their team that kind of when Brunson’s out he’s aggressive so you kind of got to um make sure you don’t get those easy looks. You guys have seen zone quite a bit the last week or two. Um how do you feel like you guys fared against it tonight? I mean I think we did well. Um, I mean, obviously I think it slows us down a little bit. Um, I mean that’s what the zone’s for. Um, we try to get good shots and I think we did that um, tonight. Um, just swinging the ball, still trusting each other, not trying to not trying to just be a hero and try to go in there and score the ball. We trust each other and we swing the ball and we got good shots. Supposed to talk about you being a guy that naturally likes to set other guys up, but but you kind of got in that mode in the fourth quarter where you’re attacking, get in that mode. Is it, I guess, a different switch for you to kind of be s ultra aggressive where you’re not playing that that ultra playmaker at those parts in the game? Yeah, I think um I mean I think a lot of people in the league know I can uh I’m trying to get downhill, make a play or or trying to finish and I think throughout the game as as we’re running, they don’t have that many legs. They’re not in the gaps. Um so I see those open lanes and I and I get to my spots and I and I just make the layup. I kind of make it uh simple and if somebody steps up, I just swing the ball and just try to make the right play every time. Thank you. Thank you, Norm. You know, you’ve been around long enough to know this league sometimes 50/50 just how things balance. We saw the game against the Clippers, Kawhi missed the shot. We saw today they had three chances at the end, didn’t get it. But how important is it at the end of the day like coach said just to find a way somehow? It’s super important. You know um you know every game’s not going to be perfect. You know I know fans media um even uh ourselves you know going out there and competing. You know we want to play the best. We want to have you know a clean game where you know you’re not stressed at the end going down to the uh last uh seconds. But you know that’s not how the game uh goes all the time. So, you know, finding different opportunities, different ways to dig out a win, um is important, you know, especially u as we get deeper into the season, you know, you want to win these, uh these close battles, um especially with a team like that, you know, um and how um close the the standings are right now. These uh these wins are all important. Um so, it was good bounceback game for us. Um they they fought, we fought, but we’re able to hold strong and figure it out. K did a hell of a job today. Um and that block that he had um was big time. I was going to ask you about K. There’s obviously going to be ups and downs for young players, but how have you seen kind of Ko respond to the adversity and how impactful was he tonight just from the start? Um I think he’s been great honestly. Um you know I’ve been on him, uh coach has been on him. Uh I’ve told them you know um you know I try to relate to them from uh you know I’m a little older than them, but um I always tell them there’s a meter. You know, think of it as like 2K back in the day. There used to be a meter, takeover meter in the game. Um, and I told him, you know, the the bottom is G- League and the top is generational, and I want him to be in that generational every single game. Um, because that’s the talent that he has. Um, and he’s been, uh, great, especially these, um, last few games being able to start, um, and getting the opportunity. Um, and it’s not always going to be perfect. Um, it’s not always going to be perfect where he’s hitting every shot and everything like that, but those hustle plays, those energy plays, those second um, and third opportunities, hustling for the ball, offensive rebounds, and things like that, um, is what we need. We feed off that. And, uh, we saw that today. Um, and I think he’s doing a good job. You know, it’s going to be ups and downs, but as long as he stays, uh, mentally tough, um, and fighting through the adversity, um, it’s going to be good because we need him. You guys have seen a lot of zone in the past two weeks. There have been stretches kind of in the mud and there stretches like the middle of the fourth where you guys were scoring in the paint a ton. When it’s going well, what are the habits? What are the tendencies you guys are kind of hitting? I mean, when it’s going well, we’re we’re sticking to uh the foundation of the offense. when it’s not going well, we’re um probably one pass possession, no pass possession, and we’re trying to attack um our guy head on and the defense is loaded up and they’re able to to see the plays in front. But when we swing the ball, having a guy cut through um and then being able to drive those gaps or swing the ball and playing a closeout situation, um it’s to our advantage. You know, I think they’re going zone because um they know our pace. You know, it’s tough to keep up with that pace. You know, the starting unit coming out running um then that second unit coming in um and picking up the tempo. you know that the zone is meant to slow us down, you know. So, um the way you beat the zone is beating it before it gets set up and then um attacking it once they do and it’s ball movement, body movement, um same fundamentals as uh our man principles. But, um yeah, I think those those stretches uh we can need to get a little bit better at, especially um as we get deeper in the season. U teams are definitely going to see that the zone works and slows us down a little bit. So, we got to be able to execute at a high level. Normally, it was a relatively slow start for you, but you picked it up, especially in that fourth quarter. What was maybe what did the Knicks do in the first quarter kind of led to that? Was it make or miss? Was it maybe not getting some fouls and then what led you to have that, you know, good fourth quarter? I think it’s a mix of everything, you know. Um uh they they played against me uh in MSG and um I had 30, so I knew they were going to come out and try something uh different. Um I think they were more um they’re a little like a step or two closer than they were uh the game before. Um in full denials um switching, holding, grabbing. There a little bit of everything. Missing some easy shots. um not getting some fouls on my drives. But for me, you know, I’ve been in this league a long time and just uh worked on my mental, just staying the course, you know, working the game, letting the game come to me, uh playing off of uh my teammates, you know, finding some things in transition um to loosen up the defense and uh just continuing to attack, get in the paint, good things happen. And in the second half, I was able to find my operations in in that zone and attack a little bit, get into the paint, get to my floater, um and uh make the plays that are in front of me. But, you know, not every night is going to be uh me making four or five threes or whatever it is. The game is uh won in different ways. And I got to continue to figure out um how to work in the offense, especially as I get more intentions on the defense. Um hopefully it opens up my teammates to be able to attack as well. Norm, the Knicks took about half of their shots from three last game and this game it was closer to a third. They take some of the most threes in the league. Was that, you know, was there any sort of emphasis on staying home or running them off the three-point line tonight to kind of get them out of that part of their game? Yeah, the emphasis was winning the closeout. That that close out battle um is huge, especially uh when they got Shamid and Clarkson and McBride. They got quick triggers. Um so is winning those closeout battles, being a step closer um making them put the ball on the ground. Um instead of having them be able to lace it up. Um but I mean they still got how much they get 36 threes. Um did a good job. You know, I think 25% um is good. You made it tough for them. Um, but that’s that that mentality we have to have defensively, you know, making every um level of the the offense for the opposing team uh difficult. Um, I thought we did a great job of imposing our will defensively. Drew hit those three big threes in the second half. I’m just wondering what you’ve seen of a guy like that. That’s kind of a common presence. You should have shot the fourth one when he had to snatch back. I told him after the game, he got a heat check that. Um, no, I love Drew, you know. Um, he’s a steady um force for us in that second unit, you know. Um he might not always get big numbers, but he’s in the right spots at the right time defensively. Um anchoring that, being in gaps, um getting his hands on uh the basketball for deflections and steals. Um I’m actually surprised he only had one steal today. I thought he had like two or three more, but um he’s just very uh IQ player on both sides of the ball. Um and and he picks his spots and today he made three big threes. Should have been four. Um I’m going to stay on him about that. But um he was great today. um timely baskets to to keep us in the game. Uh especially going out in them stretch winning uh moments. Appreciate it, Nor. Thank you. All right. You sort of forecasted be before the game and you said just find a way to win and it certainly seemed across the board. So many different ways from Pella from Drew hitting the threes, Simone hitting them early, Kell with the boards later. Is this what you mean by finding a way to win? Yeah, because uh you know when you’re trying to work on all of your things, your identity, like how you want to play on uh both sides of the floor, uh sometimes you just can get lost in the minutia. It still comes down to just uh you know, competitors find a way to win. Um it doesn’t have to go perfect. It never will go perfect. It never will just be exactly how you you want it to go. Um, and then ultimately you just have to figure out as a comp as a group of competitors, you know, how to put your fingerprints uh on a game and um and then come out with a uh uh with big plays, you know, to secure a W. Um, and we made some big plays, you know, going down the stretch. Uh um, and, you know, Kell uh, was very impactful in those last, you know, several minutes. uh you know and that’s that’s certainly growth. Speaking of K, I was going to ask about him just he seemed to have his fingerprints on the game from the start. Um strong start and you obviously left him on the court for much of that fourth quarter. Yeah. What did you like about what he did tonight maybe compared to uh I mean just felt like the multiple efforts um even the block you know that uh was called the goalend like it was a great uh effort uh on his part. Um, you know, the rebounding, you know, was, uh, very intentional. Um, and, you know, the multiple efforts. I love that drive that he had with four minutes to go. You know, it was kind of a loose ball. It caught on the baseline. It could have been one of those flip shots, but he wanted to make sure that this thing was going to the rim uh, and and got the and one. And you know that that showed me, you know, there’s growth in uh time score, context, swing moments, like, hey, let’s let’s not just, you know, get a shot that you might take uh in the first three minutes of a game. Um but also like, you know, some of the defense that he had on, you know, one of the best scores uh in this game. I’m not talking about, you know, necessarily getting stops. It’s just you have to negotiate through a lot of different things. pick and roll basketball. Uh flares, uh you know, a guy who knows how to draw fouls is crafty and uh and then when he’s not on them, like, hey, you got to patrol the paint and make sure that you’re protecting uh the rim for us. And so there’s a lot of different kind of roles that he had to to do, you know, throughout the course of the game. We’ve seen a lot of zone lately and for a while there was kind of grinding the offense down, but then there was that stretch in the middle of the fourth where you guys ran off between 10 and 14 points in the paint kind of in a row. Is there anything to take away from that stretch against those? Yeah, I think we’re still going to get to our game regardless. Um, and you know, we’ll get a ton of experience at it. I’m sure a lot of teams will zone us and I think that’s good. the more you can see things, the more you can uh work on it and, you know, get an attack. Um, we’ll find out what the numbers were, but the numbers uh in New York were were very good. I think it was 1.4 something, you know, per possession uh against the zone. It was really more that we couldn’t get stops. I mean, uh, did we have to score 150, you know, to get that win, but um, yeah, I think it’ll be a good thing. Obviously, many contributions, but Dave right from the start had his fingerprints. I mean, you you spoken before about the physicality needed to win games like this, but he was just kind of everywhere tonight. I mean, I probably the average fan has no idea how elite that last defensive cut off was. McBride was going full speed. You know that he’s a three-point shooter. He could pull up. That could be uh the game winning points on the board, so you have to meet him early. He crossed over and he caught his move. uh and then got him to shoot the pullup. Uh but he was doing a lot of things uh throughout the course of the game. You know, Dav’s a great competitor. Um and you know, now he’s really improved in terms of uh his offball defense. You know, he can be a menace, you know, when he’s not guarding the ball. We know what he can do on the ball, but he’s he’s uh you know, really becoming a a good disruptive, you know, help defender. Um, and then offensively, you know, we want to just pump him with conf confidence because he naturally loves setting other guys up, but we’re a better team when he’s aggressive, when he’s getting downhill, when he’s taking his open threes. Um, so it it was a good balance. Eric, like the other night when on on Quinn’s play that you used for the gamewinner, it it required four or five guys to do things precisely right. Last possession tonight, same thing. How important are these games when it’s not one guy having to make a play? When it takes a collective to do everything right to pull one out. Yeah. Um, you know, that last those last couple defensive sequences, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on, you know, and um, you know, again, we had Kell on Josh Hart, you know, so uh, that’s not like an easy thing. other teams have have put centers on him and he finds a way to like eat up the space or find a loose ball which he actually did. Uh you know on on that one tip in be a tip out before that. Uh but yeah, everybody had to do their part, you know, and then you also have to get them to miss, you know. We had a couple good, you know, contests and that’s a very makeable shot by Towns on the baseline, but you know how I think I think there’s like a karma, you know, to the game sometimes. Um and I think, you know, we did a lot of things to to earn it. Drew hit three huge threes in that second half. just just how much of a calming presence is he and in bigger picture how much does the outside shot I guess come along where you see his confidence kind of peaking well his confidence can be anything you know he chooses it to be because he can do whatever he wants you know out there like we’re not going to you know pull the reinss on him at all but I I think the bigger thing is is like when I talk about like make a competitive impact that’s what he does so all of a sudden if the game requires I got to knock down three threes. He’s going to do that. He might not do that the next game. It might be like the three steals, you know, or uh he just has an incredible knack for, you know, if a big brings a ball down or somebody brings a ball down, you know, under the waist, he’s he’s going to come up with that. Um he’s he’s really great for that unit because he keeps them settled. everybody else can just be, you know, aggressive, hair on fire, you know, he just kind of is a calming um presence. Um and and super smart, disciplined, um and and and it just had an impact. I didn’t see what the the overall plus minus was, but he’s usually always up there. Okay. Thank you.

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Pelle Larsson, Kel’el Ware, Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell and Erik Spoelstra spoke to the media following Monday night’s game vs. the New York Knicks.

0:00 Pelle Larsson
2:18 Kel’el Ware
4:12 Davion Mitchell
6:28 Norman Powell
12:54 Erik Spoelstra

MIA vs. NYK Boxscore:
https://www.nba.com/heat/gamedayhub?gameID=0022500244

Coup’s Takeaways 📝:
https://www.nba.com/heat/news/coups-takeaways-heat-mitchell-ware-clutch-win-hold-off-knicks-towns-mcbride

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