LAS VEGAS – Kel’el Ware showed Wednesday why the Miami Heat chose him with the 15th overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft.
The 7-foot, 242-pound center produced game highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Heat to a 92-79 win over the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center in the NBA 2K25 Summer League. The loss dropped the Mavs to 0-3 entering Friday’s game at 3:30 p.m., Dallas time, against the Boston Celtics.
Ware was 9-of-12 from the field with most of his baskets coming on dunks or attempts near the rim. And with the three blocked shots he collected, he also was effective in challenging the Mavs at the rim.
“In the fourth quarter, I just thought Ware, with his size, you can see why he’s a first-round pick,” Mavs summer league coach Jared Dudley said. “(He was) screening and rolling and sealing and catching lobs. He was a factor.”
The Mavs were only trailing, 81-74, with under three minutes left. But Ware scored inside, then the Heat put the game away when Josh Christopher, Ware and Isaiah Stevens each buried a pair of free throws to give Miami an 89-75 lead with 1:26 remaining.
It was yet another missed opportunity for the Mavs.
“We just got to keep being aggressive on the offensive end, and defensively not be afraid to make mistakes,” said AJ Lawson, who led the Mavs with 22 points and six rebounds. “Also, for me I’ve got to make that extra pass quicker instead of driving between two or three guys, and just be a better leader.”
The Mavs played without point guard Brandon Williams, who sprained his shoulder during Monday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. But Williams’ replacement, Jazian Gortman, collected 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting and provided a spark all game for the Mavs.
“Miami turned up their defensive pressure and caused a little bit of turnovers from our side on the offensive end,” Gortman said. “Going forward, when teams turn up their defensive pressure — knowing that we have guards and wings that can get to their spots and still get to the paint and get open threes for other teammates – (we need to) play under control, including myself, and just keep getting the job done.”
Dudley noticed a change in the Heat’s defensive pressure following the Mavs’ early successful start, which included a pair of three-pointers by Gortman.
“I thought their physicality changed,” Dudley said. “They got into the ball, the big fella (Ware) was back there blocking shots and protecting their paint, and for us it was the turnovers in that second quarter.
“We got the rebound and tried to outlet it. We weren’t making smart decisions on that – (and we scored) only 11 points in that second quarter. But credit them in pickin
g their defense up.”
In holding the Heat to just 6-of-19 shooting from the field in the first quarter, the Mavs took a 21-14 lead. But Miami’s smothering defense enabled it to take a 37-32 lead at the half, with the majority of that coming on a 26-9 run.
“I feel like we just failed to execute defensively in certain rotations,” said Lawson, who was 8-of-14 from the field. “We let them play in the pick-and-rolls a lot and get into their lobs, and that’s why they were able to get momentum to get on runs.
“And I feel like we got a little stagnant offensively.”
The Mavs know Williams could have given them some fire had he been able to play,
“He’s a great guard,” Lawson said. “We definitely miss his presence and speed for sure, because he’s going to push the ball, and that’s how we like to play. We play fast.”
In the meantime, Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 11 points for the Mavs, but was only 3-of-12 from the field, including 0-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Prosper attacked the basket, got fouled and converted four early free throws that got the Mavs out to a 10-4 lead.
“I think O-Max twisted his ankle a little bit, because he started off so well, attacking and getting to the free throw line,” Dudley said. “You could tell his ankle was bothering him a little bit, so we’ll have to check on him.
“With O-Max and a lot of guys it’s about being consistent. But I thought he started off strong. I thought his defense was solid. You’re playing a lot of minutes and you’re going harder. We still got two more games for him. Obviously, we want to win, but end on him playing very well. I don’t want him to just play OK. I want him to have a good game, if not two.”
The Mavs took care of the ball better than they did Monday when they turned it over 27 times against Memphis. Still, the 18 turnovers the Mavs were charged with against Miami severely affected them.
“Another beast on that one,” Dudley said, referring to the turnovers. “We had a couple or three or four, guys are open down (the court), and they don’t want to make the pass. So, we’ve got to clean that up and play a little bit more unselfish, because they are unselfish guys. The game is just speeding them up so fast and it’s hard for them to react.”
And because the Mavs shot just 39.2 percent from the field and were outrebounded, 36-32, they couldn’t overcome what the Heat brought to the table.
“In the third quarter we came out and won the quarter, and went a little bit smaller to have more pace and speed the game up,” Dudley said. “We played a little bit smaller because we had to. We just couldn’t get enough stops at the end to have a chance.”
X: @DwainPrice
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