Heat falls to 1-3 in Vegas after summer league loss to Pistons. How Jakucionis and others fared

Miami Herald

17-07-2025

With the Miami Heat's summer league team missing its leading trio of Keshad Johnson, Pelle Larsson and Kel'el Ware, rookie Kasparas Jakucionis got the opportunity to play as the summer squad's leading man.
But like most of summer league, the results were mixed for the 19-year-old Jakucionis in the Heat's 108-88 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday at the Pavilion on UNLV's campus to drop to 1-3 in Las Vegas Summer League.
After finishing with just six points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, 0-of-3 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line while recording only one assist to three turnovers in the first half, Jakucionis totaled nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, two assists and two turnovers in the second half.
Jakucionis, who was selected by Miami with the 20th pick in the first round of last month's draft, closed Thursday's loss with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 1-of-6 shooting on threes and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block while committing five turnovers in 28 minutes.
The other Heat player currently with an NBA contract who played Thursday was center Vlad Goldin, who is signed by Miami to a two-way deal. Goldin contributed six points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 20 minutes against the Pistons.
Without Johnson, Larsson and Ware, the Heat started a lineup of Jakucionis, Marcus Williams, Erik Stevenson, Dain Dainja and Goldin on Thursday.
While Johnson remains with the Heat's summer team, Larsson and Ware left Las Vegas and their summer league work is done.
Larsson impressed during summer league, averaging 17.4 points, three rebounds and three assists per appearance in his five summer league games this year between the California Classic and the Las Vegas circuit before leaving the Heat to join Sweden's national team ahead of the EuroBasket 2025 tournament. But Larsson was far from perfect, totaling 15 turnovers to 15 assists and also shooting just 22 of 52 (42.3 percent) from the field and 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) from three-point range in his five summer league appearances.
It was an up-and-down summer league for Ware, who averaged just 12 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 13 of 33 (39.4 percent) from the field in his first three summer league appearances this year after establishing himself as one of the NBA's top rookies last season. But after Heat coach Erik Spoelstra challenged Ware to 'really embrace and improve his professionalism, his consistency, his approach every single day,' Ware responded with his two best performances of this year's summer league by averaging 21 points, 12 rebounds, 1.5 steals and two blocks per game while shooting 16 of 29 (55.2 percent) from the field and 5 of 6 (83.3 percent) from three-point range in his final two summer appearances.
The absences of Johnson, Larsson and Ware allowed Heat summer league players still without NBA contracts like Stevenson and forward Myron Gardner to flash their skill sets.
Stevenson, who has spent the last two seasons in the G League, closed Thursday's defeat with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 22 minutes.
Gardner, who also spent the last two seasons in the G League, finished Thursday's loss with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range and 1-of-1 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, two assists and one steal in 23 minutes. It marked Gardner's first game in Las Vegas Summer League after suffering a finger injury during the California Classic.
Guard Bryson Warren, who stood out for the Heat's summer league in the California Classic, has not played in Las Vegas because of a hamstring injury.
After winning the Las Vegas Summer League championship last year, the Heat won't repeat as champions this year. The Heat will play its fifth and final Las Vegas Summer League game on Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks' summer squad (7 p.m., ESPN+).