Ja Morant's game-winner draws honest reaction from Heat defender (2025)

MIAMI – As the Miami Heat lost at the hands of Ja Morant hitting a game-winning shot on Thursday night, it snapped the team's six-game winning streak in heartbreaking fashion. While the Heat feel they got tougher after the highly competitive contest, there will be attention on center Kel'el Ware since he was the one guarding Morant on the play.

With under 14 seconds left, Memphis inbounded the ball to Morant who was initially guarded by Davion Mitchell, but as soo as he got past half-court, they switched him off which led to Ware being the defender. Morant would drive on Ware and find space for a turnaround jumper that led to the buzzer-beater as he was left on an island as the rookie spoke on how he simply had to “guard your yard.”

“Just guard your yard. He got the lucky shot. That's it,” Ware said.

While blame might be put on Ware for allowing the shot, there was no doubt a defensive lapse by Miami to allow the screen easily to switch off from Mitchell. Plus, Ware received no help to lock down Morant, especially with a few seconds remaining to further force a tough shot as Erik Spoelstra mentioned the team's confidence in Ware's defense, but didn't like how the Grizzlies star was “on an island.”

“We're at our best when we're active, not just leaving the guy on an island. We feel fully comfortable with Kel'el guarding a lot of different kinds of players especially in an ISO situation, but not on an island. You know, that's, that's probably the biggest takeaway. We had opportunities, probably late to really bring a second guy there, just didn't do it.”

Heat's Kel'el Ware has made “big-time strides”

Despite the game-winner, the Heat's young star Ware has been exceptional in his first year in the NBA as he's found a consistent role as the team's primary starting center. Against Memphis, he finished with another double-double as Ware had 13 points and 15 rebounds as Spoelstra spoke more on the final possession and the 20-year-old's “big-time strides.”

“He's making big-time strides,” Spoelstra said. “Probably people will say ‘Hey, why would you switch? Look, I don't have to explain it, but he's been doing that and guarding some pretty good guys, but never on an island. We don't want that. That's not our system. Yeah, it is a good thing he was this close to getting a big-time offensive rebound there down the stretch. He got his hands on it, and that could have been a big extra couple points for us.”

Miami is 35-42 which puts them ninth in the Eastern Conference with five games left including Saturday's contest against the Milwaukee Bucks.