Miami Heat: 12 games to be played on the 2024-25 schedule - Hot Hot Hoops

The 2024-25 regular season schedule has been released! Which Miami Heat games should you have on your calendar? Let’s break them down!

October 23: vs. Orlando Magic

Miami will open the regular season against Orlando for the fifth time in nine seasons. In the previous four meetings, it went 1-3; it should be noted that all four of those games were played at the Amway Center.

The Heat went 3-1 against the Magic last year. According to NBA.com, their plus-5.9 NET rating against the Magic was the ninth-best against any individual opponent.

For more information about this game, click here.

November 2: vs. Washington Wizards

Yes, yes, it’s the Washington Wizards. Nothing particularly exciting. However, this game will be played in Mexico City, the third time Miami has played in Mexico in franchise history. The game will coincide with the Day of the Dead, a local holiday! The game marks the 33rd game played in Mexico, including the 31st in Mexico City, the most in any country outside of the United States and Canada.

“Bringing the Heat and Wizards to Mexico City next season in conjunction with Día de los Muertos will mark another special milestone in the NBA’s long history in Mexico,” Raúl Zarraga, senior vice president and general manager of NBA Mexico, said in a statement. “The game and surrounding events will serve as the ultimate NBA celebration for fans in Mexico and throughout Latin America at a time when momentum around basketball in the region is at an all-time high.”

November 10: @ Minnesota Timberwolves

It’s always a pleasure to watch Anthony Edwards play basketball, but the Heat have beaten Minnesota just twice (in 10 games) since Jimmy Butler arrived. In games he has played against his former team, the Heat are 1-4 in that span with a -3.4 NET Rating in such performances. This game will also be the third of a grueling six-game road trip that includes Phoenix, Denver and Indiana (twice).

November 12: vs. Detroit Pistons

Speaking of the six-game road trip, the only opponent I left out was the matchup against Detroit. This game will be Miami’s first game in the preseason tournament in Group B, which will include one more road game and one at home. Last year, they swept the season series against the lowly Pistons, although two of those four wins came by one possession.

November 18: vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Play the tribute video! This will be Caleb Martin’s first game back with Miami after signing a four-year deal with Philadelphia this offseason. He reportedly left a lot of money on the table to go north, but the 6-foot-5 forward projects as a starting-level forward alongside newly signed Paul George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

November 26: vs. Milwaukee Bucks

This will be the first of two nationally televised games between Miami and Milwaukee (both on TNT). It will also be the Heat’s penultimate game in Group B of the season’s tournament, where they will also face Detroit (mentioned above), Indiana and Toronto.

Miami and Milwaukee were also in the same group last year in the final game. The Bucks closed the door on Miami’s chances of advancing to the knockout round, losing 131-124.

December 2: @ Boston Celtics

Miami’s first rematch against rival Boston, the reigning NBA champion, will come on the second night of a back-to-back. The two rivals will meet four times, three of them on the first or second night of a back-to-back for Miami.

The Celtics outscored the Heat in five games last postseason and have been outscored each of the past three regular seasons, posting a 7-3 record and a plus-9.9 NET Rating.

January 1: against the New Orleans Pelicans

For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Heat will play on New Year’s Day in back-to-back seasons. They have a 6-3 record in nine New Year’s Day games, though all three of their losses have come in a row in their last New Year’s contests. The NYD’s last win was in the 2015-16 season against the Dallas Mavericks, 106-82.

January 12: @ Los Angeles Clippers

This game marks Miami’s first game inside the newly constructed Intuit Dome, which is set to open this fall. The state-of-the-art, $2 billion facility is located in Inglewood, California, near SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Rams) and the former Kia Forum, where the Los Angeles Lakers played from 1967-1999.

The new-look Clippers will also be without Paul George, who signed a four-year max contract with Philadelphia, for the first time since Kawhi Leonard joined before the 2019-20 season.

January 23: @ Bucks

Barring the postseason, will this be the last Heat regular-season game that legendary broadcaster Marv Albert will call? Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) will no longer have streaming rights beyond the 2024-25 season, with the deal going to Amazon and NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock). The recently signed TV deal will last for 11 seasons and cost more than $75 billion, more than triple the cost of the current nine-year deal.

March 17: @ New York Knicks

The Knicks and Heat have met three times this season, though this will be their only game inside Madison Square Garden. Miami has lost each of its last four games inside MSG after winning five of its previous six. This game is one of only five it has played outside of the Kaseya Center in the month of March.

April 13: vs. Wizards

I know, another game against Washington, but this will mark the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

Who knows if this game will have any standings implications? Last year, the Heat were one game out of fifth place in the tough mid-East. Winning this game would be key if they were to find themselves in a similar situation again.