Kel’el Ware #7 of the Miami Heat celebrates making a three-point basket during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on March 25, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio.
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CLEVELAND
In some ways, backup center Kel’el Ware’s second NBA season has mirrored the Miami Heat’s frustrating up-and-down season.
When Ware has been good, so has the Heat. But when Ware hasn’t been good, the Heat has struggled.
Ware was excellent in Wednesday night’s 120-103 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena that snapped the Heat’s five-game skid. Ware, 21, closed the victory with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting on threes, 11 rebounds, four assists and one block while posting a season-best plus/minus of plus-32 in 20 minutes off the bench.
When Ware has recorded a positive plus/minus, the Heat is an eye-opening 23-2 this season. But when Ware’s plus/minus has been a negative, the Heat is just 11-30 this season.
“Let’s do that more often,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said with a laugh after Wednesday’s win in Cleveland when told of the team’s success this season when Ware has been a positive. “He’s taking it to heart, he wants it right now. So in some of these games where it just hasn’t gone necessarily his way or our way during those minutes when he’s in the game, he’s just coming back the next day and trying to correct it and be better. And for a young guy, that’s what you want.
“And he was terrific. That, for sure, is his best plus/minus of the year. But it was important also just to have that size and rebounding and rim protection going down the stretch.”
Ware’s response on Wednesday following a rough few games was especially impressive.
Prior to Wednesday’s strong effort, Ware had totaled just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting from three-point range, eight rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 27 minutes over the previous two games. He also totaled a negative plus/minus of minus-18 during this two-game stretch.
That led to Spoelstra calling Ware in for a meeting ahead of Tuesday’s practice in Miami just hours before the Heat flew to Cleveland for its two-game set against the Cavaliers.
“His response yesterday, I met with him and had a productive film session, where he wanted to get better, and he had a very good practice,” Spoelstra said after Wednesday’s win, with the Heat (39-34) set to close its two-game set against the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Friday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun and NBA TV). “And then it carried over today. It doesn’t guarantee that it will, but he was very good in that second half. Big, protecting the rim and rebounding, which is what we needed to do to finish off our defense.”
Ware was so good in Wednesday’s second half that Spoelstra played him for the final 12:02 of the game. Nearly half of that time was spent alongside Heat starting center Bam Adebayo, as Miami closed the game with the double-big look for the final 6:42.
Ware totaled seven points, four rebounds, three assists and one block while posting a plus/minus of plus 17 during the final 12:02 of the contest to help the Heat come away with the 17-point win after allowing the Cavaliers to take their first lead of the night early in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve had multiple meetings,” Ware said when asked about his Tuesday meeting with Spoelstra. “We just talk about it and try to get an understanding of each other just to try to get how we can make it work.”
Ware has flashed his intriguing potential during stretches this season, grabbing double-digit rebounds in nine straight games in November and also turning in one of his best performances of the season in Wednesday’s win over the Cavaliers. But Ware has also struggled to sustain and string together quality efforts, as Spoelstra has challenged him to be better multiple times this season.
Ware is averaging 11.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 52.9% from the field and 37.3% on three three-point attempts per game through the first 68 appearances of his second NBA season. That’s up from Ware’s rookie production, when he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.4% from the field and 31.5% on threes last season.
“He has that type of game. I mean, we’ve seen it multiple times this season,” Heat guard Norman Powell said of Ware’s encouraging stat line on Wednesday in Cleveland. “So it’s good that coach trusted him to put him in and play him extended minutes in that fourth quarter. And then the plays he made cleaning up, contesting shots, altering shots at the rim, rebounding, running the floor, spacing the floor. He’s a good generational talent. It’s just about his mindset every single day when he steps on that floor.”
With only nine regular-season games remaining and the Heat still trying to claim a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference to avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament, Ware’s play during the final two-plus weeks of the regular season will be a big factor in where the Heat ends up in the standings.
“Spo is a big plus/minus guy,” said Ware, who was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team last season after being taken by the Heat with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. “So just trying to be in the positive and impact the game.”
After all, the Heat usually wins when Ware’s minutes are positive.
“These are great games of experience for him,” Spoelstra said. “Every possession matters. It feels like the playoffs, because that cliche when you say every possession matters, it does. A poor three-minute stretch with a unit can go 13, 14, 15 points the other way, and that changes the whole complexion of the game. But he’s working at it. I really commend him for that. We do need productive minutes from him.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 11:00 AM.
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.