Raheem Mostert also ran for two touchdowns for the Dolphins (8-3), who cushioned their lead atop the AFC East by sending the Jets (4-7) to their fourth straight loss.

Tua Tagovailoa was intercepted twice, including one returned for a score by Brandin Echols, but Miami was in control for most of the game. Tagovailoa finished 21 of 30 for 243 yards with the TD to Hill and the two INTs.

Tim Boyle started at quarterback for the Jets in place of the benched Zach Wilson, but New York’s stagnant offense failed to get much going other than Boyle’s 1-yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson with 4:37 remaining.

The Dolphins took a 10-0 lead when Tagovailoa connected with Hill, who avoided a tackle attempt by Jordan Whitehead and zipped into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 8:21 left in the second quarter.

Hill took off his helmet and looked into the MetLife Stadium stands, found wife Keeta Vaccaro and blew her a kiss before tossing her the football. The two were married during the Dolphins’ bye two weeks ago.

Hill’s touchdown catch was his 10th of the season, making him the first Dolphins player since Mike Wallace in 2014 to have double-digit TD receptions.

With the Jets’ offense struggling — as usual — the defense stepped up to get the Jets into the game.

On first-and-10 from the Dolphins 27, Tagovailoa threw a pass intended for Braxton Berrios, but Echols jumped the route, intercepted the toss and took it 30 yards to the end zone.

The usually reliable Greg Zuerlein was wide right on the extra-point attempt, and Miami’s lead was 10-6 with 58 seconds left in the opening half.

D.J. Reed intercepted Tagovailoa on the Dolphins’ next possession, giving the Jets the ball at their 49 with 2 seconds left.

Instead of taking a knee and going into halftime down by 4, New York tried a Hail Mary — and it went embarrassingly wrong.

Boyle’s throw to the end zone was picked off by Holland, who took off down the field, weaved his way past some would-be Jets tacklers — including Boyle — and took it in untouched for a 99-yard interception return.

The Dolphins went wild on their sideline. The Jets stood stunned on theirs.

And many fans headed for the concourses to find some relief after another brutal half of football for their team.

Mostert’s 13-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the Dolphins a 27-6 lead — and tempers flared after that.

There was some pushing and shoving between several players and the Jets’ C.J. Mosley and Micheal Clemons were flagged for personal fouls — including Clemons appearing to inadvertently make contact with an official. Clemons wasejected. Dolphins right tackle Austin Jackson was also kicked out of the game.

Mostert added a 34-yard TD run with 3:35 left.

STATS

Hill finished with nine catches for 102 yards and the TD, while Jaylen Waddle caught eight passes for 114 yards. … Hill has 1,324 yards receiving, breaking Julio Jones’ record (1,305) for the most yards receiving in the first 11 games of a season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. … Boyle, making his fourth NFL start and first since the 2021 season with Detroit, was 27 of 38 for 179 and a TD with two interceptions.

INJURIES

Dolphins: Holland left late in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. … LB Jaelan Phillips was carted from the field in the fourth with an injured Achilles tendon. … LT Terron Armstead left in the third with a quadriceps injury.

UP NEXT

Dolphins: At Washington on Dec. 3.

Jets: Host Atlanta on Dec. 3.

Lowry made his first five 3s and finished 7 of 10 from long range. The Heat were without injured All-Star center Bam Adebayo, but built a 19-point lead in first half and never trailed in winning for the ninth time in 10 games.

“With Bam sitting out, I knew it was an opportunity for me to get more shots,” Lowry said. “A good win on the road against a really, really good team.”

Miami’s been earning its frequent flyer mileage, as the Heat are playing a league-high 12 of 17 games to start the season outside South Florida.

Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. had his best game as a pro with 22 points, and the Heat tied a franchise record with eight players in double figures — as their reserves played the entire fourth quarter.

The Cavs had their winning streak stopped at four. They were understandably dragging after winning in overtime at Philadelphia on Tuesday night to keep their hopes alive for a wild card in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

Darius Garland scored 14 points and Evan Mobley 13 to lead Cleveland, which has dealing with a spate of injuries. With the Cavs down 22 going into the fourth, coach J.B. Bickerstaff gave his starters some needed rest.

“You could see mentally, emotionally, physically, we just couldn’t find it tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “We played a great game last night and obviously expended a lot of energy. We tried, but we just couldn’t find it.

“We don’t make excuses, but it’s the basketball reality that we live in.”

Cavs rookie Craig Porter Jr. scored a team-high 16 in his first career start.

Both teams were missing their best players.

Adebayo sat out with a left hip bruise that he aggravated with a fall during a recent game. Adebayo leads the Heat in scoring (22.8 points), rebounds (10.2) and gives Miami a strong defensive presence inside.

“He’s able to do everything except jump, which is a really bad thing when you’re in the NBA,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Donovan Mitchell was out again for the Cavs, who have been shorthanded due to injuries most of the season. Mitchell, who averages a team-high 29.2 points, has missed four straight games with a hamstring injury the team is treating very cautiously.

Lowry set the tone right after the opening tip, making four 3-pointerrs in the first 4:49 as the Heat sprinted to a 19-7 lead.

The Cavs regrouped and quickly closed the gap, but Lowry hit his fifth straight 3 to make it 27-20. The Miami point guard’s first miss from deep came when he launched from 32 feet — a literal Heat check.

“Kyle was terrific, not just his shooting, but his pace,” Spoelstra said. “We needed him to be aggressive and assertive.”

Lowry said Miami’s coaching staff has been urging him and his teammates to go hard.

“The last 10 games I’ve been trying to push the pace and play a little faster,” he said. “Pushing the pace and keeping teams off balance is something we strive to do and we’re really good at it.”

Cleveland was still within striking distance in the third, but the Heat dropped five more 3-pointers — Lowry had two — to increase the lead to 101-79 after three.

“It seemed like they were all on fire,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re a veteran team and you could see the message early on was to run, run, run. We just couldn’t keep up.”

Miami reserve guard Dru Smith injured his right knee in the second quarter, when he stepped on a raised portion of the floor in front of Cleveland’s bench.

“It is a dangerous floor,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve had a couple of scares, when guys go in that corner. It’s just so dangerous.”

Heat forward Kevin Love didn’t make the trip for personal reasons. It would have been his first game back in Cleveland after being released last season. Love spent nine years with the Cavs and was a core member of their 2016 NBA title team.

Boston improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-0-0 after losses. The Bruins have 31 of a possible 36 points so far — by far the best in the league, yet slightly behind their pace from last season when they had 32 points through 18 games.

Boston finished with an NHL-record 135 points last season, then lost to Florida in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs while the Panthers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida is 0-1-1 against the Bruins this season.

John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span in the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.

Anton Lundell scored for Florida. The Panthers had won six in a row at home.

A joint announcement was made Monday by soccer’s governing bodies of South America and of North and Central America and the Caribbean. Other sites and the schedule for the 16-team tournament were not revealed.

The tournament is set to begin on June 20 at 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United has set numerous attendance records. Defending Copa América champion Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, will presumably be one of the teams taking part in the opener.

The retractable-roof stadium near downtown Atlanta, which opened in 2017, will install a grass field over its artificial playing surface for the tournament.

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens already has a Bermuda grass field and seats about 65,000 after a $500 million renovation that included installation of a roof above seating areas. The 36-year-old home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins will host the July 14 final.

If Argentina advances to the championship game, it would give Messi a chance to play in the same market as his current MLS team, Inter Miami.

“We expect stadiums filled with the passion of the entire American continent for the inauguration and the final,” Alejandro Dominguez, president of the South American governing body CONMEBOL. said in a statement.

Both stadiums have been selected as sites for the 2026 World Cup, to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“The cities have passionate sports and football fans renowned for getting behind major events,” Victor Montagliani, president of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football, said in a statement.

Copa América is expanding this season, with six teams from North America joining the usual 10 nations from South America that compete for the continental championship. It mirrors a special tournament that was held in 2016 in the United States to mark the centennial of the event — the only previous time it was staged outside of South America.

The draw will be Dec. 7 in Miami.

Neither Miami nor Atlanta was involved in Copa América Centenario, which was held at 10 venues: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; NRG Stadium in Houston; Soldier Field in Chicago; Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida; Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California; CenturyLink Stadium in Seattle; State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The 2016 opener was held at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay area, while the final won by Chile over Argentina on penalty kicks — Messi memorably left the field in tears after putting his attempt over the crossbar — was played at MetLife Stadium in suburban New York City.

Both of those stadiums have been selected as 2026 World Cup sites, along with Gillette Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, NRG Stadium and CenturyLink Stadium, making them strong candidates to also host Copa América games. The other U.S. World Cup sites are AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Except for the Centenario tournament, Copa América hosting duties usually have rotated among the 10 COMNEBOL nations in South America. The arrangement called for Ecuador to host in 2024, but that country backed out because of security issues.

All 10 South American national teams compete in the quadrennial tournament, and two guest teams have been invited to most of the tournaments since 1993.

For the 2024 edition, the CONMEBOL regulars will be joined by six CONCACAF qualifiers, comprised of the four quarterfinal winners in the Nations League and two play-in teams from the quarterfinal losers.

The two-legged quarters began last week. The United States, which was not guaranteed a spot in Copa América despite its hosting duties, defeated Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in Austin, Texas to gain a commanding aggregate edge heading into the second leg Monday night in Port-of- Spain.

In the other opening-leg matches, Honduras stunned Mexico 2-0, Canada won at Jamaica 2-1, and Panama routed Costa Rica 3-0. The second leg of Panama-Costa Rica was set for Monday night, while the other two quarterfinal games are scheduled for Tuesday.

The Nations League semifinals and finals will be held in March at AT&T Stadium.

Atlanta and Miami figure to be in the mix, as well, for another major tournament scheduled in the U.S. ahead of the World Cup.

The FIFA Club World Cup will expand from seven to 32 teams for its 2025 edition, which will be played in June and July instead of its previous winter spot on the calendar. The sites for that event are expected to be announced next year.

Teams that have already qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup include Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Seattle, Palmerias, Flamengo, Fluminense, Monterrey and León.

The longtime rivals could go head-to-head next year, despite playing their soccer on different continents these days.

Messi’s Inter Miami will travel to Saudi Arabia in February to take part in the Riyadh Season Cup, which also includes Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. The three-team tournament will be completed by Neymar’s Al-Hilal, but the Brazil international is unlikely to feature after tearing his ACL last month.

“The excitement and global interest that we expect this tournament to generate expands upon one of our main aspirations for Riyadh Season — to create international events that visitors to Riyadh and fans around the world can all enjoy,” said Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.

Saudi Arabia has made a major push to be a big player in world soccer by signing some of the game’s biggest players. But it couldn’t lure Messi to the oil-rich kingdom when he left Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season, with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner opting to move to MLS instead.

Messi took part in last season’s Riyadh Season Cup with PSG and also came up against Ronaldo after the Portugal great’s surprise move to Al Nassr. In May, Messi was fined and suspended by the French club for taking an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia.

Messi, who led Argentina to triumph at last year’s World Cup, has already won his first trophy with the David Beckham co-owned Miami — the Leagues Cup in August.

Messi and Ronaldo are widely considered to be two of the greatest players of all-time and competed against each other for soccer’s biggest prizes during their prime years at Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively.

Both have left European soccer behind but have shown little sign of giving up their ambition to add to their legacies.

Ronaldo has led Portugal to next year’s European Championship and Messi will be aiming to retain the Copa America for Argentina at next year’s tournament.

Sadio Mane has also joined Al Nassr as part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to lure more star names amid allegations of sportswashing.

While Neymar is recovering from surgery, Al-Hilal should still have Alexsandr Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in its lineup.

The Riyadh Season Cup is scheduled to be held in the first week of February at Kingdom Arena. The schedule has not been announced, but the three teams will play in a round-robin tournament.

Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson said Monday that nothing had been finalized or was ready to be announced about the team’s preseason plans. It will resume training in the second week of January, with the expectation that the MLS season will begin in late February. Henderson said he thought the team would need between four and six preseason matches, split between the U.S. and overseas.

The club had plans to play two matches in China earlier this month, but that trip — which could have led to more than 100,000 tickets being sold — fell through for logistical reasons. Inter Miami didn’t make any international tours in its first three seasons; getting Messi in Year 4 changed everything.

“I really felt like, overnight, we became a global club,” Henderson said Monday. “Eyes all over the world are watching what we’re doing. And what comes with that are these tours and preseason opportunities that we have as a club, so we’re working closely with the front office as they negotiate some of those preseason tours.”

Raheem Mostert also ran for two touchdowns for the Dolphins (8-3), who cushioned their lead atop the AFC East by sending the Jets (4-7) to their fourth straight loss.

Tua Tagovailoa was intercepted twice, including one returned for a score by Brandin Echols, but Miami was in control for most of the game. Tagovailoa finished 21 of 30 for 243 yards with the TD to Hill and the two INTs.

Tim Boyle started at quarterback for the Jets in place of the benched Zach Wilson, but New York’s stagnant offense failed to get much going other than Boyle’s 1-yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson with 4:37 remaining.

The Dolphins took a 10-0 lead when Tagovailoa connected with Hill, who avoided a tackle attempt by Jordan Whitehead and zipped into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 8:21 left in the second quarter.

Hill took off his helmet and looked into the MetLife Stadium stands, found wife Keeta Vaccaro and blew her a kiss before tossing her the football. The two were married during the Dolphins’ bye two weeks ago.

Hill’s touchdown catch was his 10th of the season, making him the first Dolphins player since Mike Wallace in 2014 to have double-digit TD receptions.

With the Jets’ offense struggling — as usual — the defense stepped up to get the Jets into the game.

On first-and-10 from the Dolphins 27, Tagovailoa threw a pass intended for Braxton Berrios, but Echols jumped the route, intercepted the toss and took it 30 yards to the end zone.

The usually reliable Greg Zuerlein was wide right on the extra-point attempt, and Miami’s lead was 10-6 with 58 seconds left in the opening half.

D.J. Reed intercepted Tagovailoa on the Dolphins’ next possession, giving the Jets the ball at their 49 with 2 seconds left.

Instead of taking a knee and going into halftime down by 4, New York tried a Hail Mary — and it went embarrassingly wrong.

Boyle’s throw to the end zone was picked off by Holland, who took off down the field, weaved his way past some would-be Jets tacklers — including Boyle — and took it in untouched for a 99-yard interception return.

The Dolphins went wild on their sideline. The Jets stood stunned on theirs.

And many fans headed for the concourses to find some relief after another brutal half of football for their team.

Mostert’s 13-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the Dolphins a 27-6 lead — and tempers flared after that.

There was some pushing and shoving between several players and the Jets’ C.J. Mosley and Micheal Clemons were flagged for personal fouls — including Clemons appearing to inadvertently make contact with an official. Clemons wasejected. Dolphins right tackle Austin Jackson was also kicked out of the game.

Mostert added a 34-yard TD run with 3:35 left.

STATS

Hill finished with nine catches for 102 yards and the TD, while Jaylen Waddle caught eight passes for 114 yards. … Hill has 1,324 yards receiving, breaking Julio Jones’ record (1,305) for the most yards receiving in the first 11 games of a season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. … Boyle, making his fourth NFL start and first since the 2021 season with Detroit, was 27 of 38 for 179 and a TD with two interceptions.

INJURIES

Dolphins: Holland left late in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. … LB Jaelan Phillips was carted from the field in the fourth with an injured Achilles tendon. … LT Terron Armstead left in the third with a quadriceps injury.

UP NEXT

Dolphins: At Washington on Dec. 3.

Jets: Host Atlanta on Dec. 3.

The Dolphins scoring spree resulted in a franchise record for points, as well as an NFL record for total yards in a game at 726, as they became the highest-scoring team in a single game since Washington in 1966.

Miami has become one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the league thanks to its high-flying offense and is often labelled as the ‘neutral’s favorite.’

After years of being known as a defensive squad, the appointment of McDaniel has seen a marked improvement for the ‘Fins on the more glamorous side of the ball.

“The Dolphins offense has underperformed and been in the shadow of the clubs’ defense for decades,” Joe Schad, a Dolphins journalist for the Palm Beach Post, told CNN Sport. “Since McDaniel’s arrival, they’re creative, fast, dynamic, exciting and productive.

“They’re feared for the first time since legendary quarterback Dan Marino was under center.”

The Mike McDaniel effect

Often decked out in aviator sunglasses and white sneakers, Coach McDaniel is part-quote machine, part-football geek, part-stand-up comedian and part-offensive guru.

“Mike McDaniel is unlike any coach I have ever covered or even met,” said Schad. “He has humility, humor, emotional intelligence and outside-the-box perspective and approaches that reach beyond perhaps any person I’ve ever met.”

Born in Aurora, Colorado, McDaniel began life in the NFL as a coaching intern with the Denver Broncos in 2005, working under head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator (OC) Gary Kubiak. He followed Kubiak to the Houston Texans in 2006 where he also assisted OC and quarterbacks coach Troy Calhoun.

“You could tell he was immensely interested,” Calhoun told CNN. “He had a real, real drive to coach in the National Football League.”

Calhoun, who is now the head coach of the United States Air Force Academy football program, describes McDaniel as an “incredibly bright” individual with an “unbelievable work ethic.”

While the Miami coach spent his first couple of seasons learning from his much more experienced peers, Calhoun admitted that there are now areas he studies in McDaniel’s schemes.

“I love the creativity of some of his own plays,” he said. “Certainly, some of his pulls and how much he utilizes motion, rather than only being in static sets.”

McDaniel spent two seasons in Houston before having two seasons out of the NFL with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the now-defunct United Football League. He then reunited with Shanahan on the then-called Washington Redskins (now Commanders) and operated alongside Sean McVay, Matt LeFleur and Kyle Shanahan.

McDaniel’s current position in Miami is a product of the so-called ‘Sean McVay effect’ — a coaching movement in the NFL that saw teams shift away from more experienced, defensive-minded head coaches and turn towards hiring younger individuals who focused on offensive strategy.

McVay became the youngest NFL head coach when he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams at the age of 30 in 2017.

Washington provided McDaniel with his first role above the assistant level, with the future Dolphins boss spending 2013 in charge of the wide receivers unit. Stops in Cleveland and Atlanta followed before McDaniel arrived in San Francisco to work as the running game coordinator under Shanahan in 2017.

McDaniel rode the rumblings of the impending coaching revolution to the OC position with the 49ers, before the Dolphins hired him for their top job in 2022, despite having no previous head coaching experience at any level.

McDaniel is a sponge when it comes to football knowledge and uses everything he has soaked up along his journey to turn Miami into an offensive juggernaut.

He is so football-obsessed that, according to The Athletic, he wrote his senior thesis on the merger-era NFL of the 1960s and ’70s while at Yale.

“There were those evenings you might go home at 11 o’clock as a coach and you come back in at six in the morning and you think, ‘Oh no, did he spend the night here?!’” Calhoun laughed.

If his bold play-calling and expansive knowledge have turned heads, McDaniel draws just as much attention off the field.

Many quotes from his press conferences go viral, he is must-watch TV when he’s mic’d up and McDaniel has even had people dressing up as him for Halloween, including Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Described as the “ultimate new-age coach” by Schad, McDaniel is a complete breath of fresh air.

“McDaniel is really smart, but not a braggart,” Schad said. “He cares about human connections and is not afraid to be transparent about feeling and emotions, which is entirely unlike almost every coach, especially football.”

Calhoun believes that someone as personable as McDaniel can benefit a franchise.

“Just any time you have somebody that’s that sincere, that genuine as a human being, I think it’s something fans certainly relate to,” he said.

“But more importantly, your ownership, your chain of command, if you will, they appreciate candor and forthright human beings, and he absolutely is.”

The most dangerous offense in the league?

It really is ‘pick your poison’ for opposing defenses when facing the Dolphins. This team is almost unfairly versatile and can hurt opponents from everywhere.

Nate Tice, a football writer and podcaster who was previously a scout and coach in the NFL, spoke to CNN Sport about this Dolphins squad and credits their offense with “weaponizing” their players’ blistering speed and their use of pre-snap motion (where players move before the ball is in play).

Their ability to “put some window dressing” on tried and tested football plays and use them to maximum effect is also something he admires but notes that the team is smart as well as speedy.

“In American football, they say ‘speed kills’ and anyone can say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just get a bunch of fast guys,’” said Tice. “But what this coaching staff and Mike McDaniel have done is they’ve taken a lot of staples of the NFL … and really used that system to make the players wide open all the time and get to use that speed.

“Even if it’s just a ‘normal play,’ in American football, they have taken that and then just put a little sugar on it, a little splash in the water, just add a couple of ingredients and it just pops everybody open,” he added.

The ‘Fins are among the top three in the NFL in a myriad of offensive statistics. Rushing touchdowns, total receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, total points – it is a scoring frenzy in the 305.

The remarkably efficient run game has become McDaniel’s trademark.

Miami currently ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards at 1,430, despite being in the bottom half of the league for rushes attempted. Veteran running back Raheem Mostert and rookie De’Von Achane frequently confound coverage and punch holes in opponents’ defenses.

“They’re able physically to play really, really aggressive with their offensive line,” said Calhoun. “But boy, they sure disguise so many of their runs with different ball carriers, with different formations, different motions. It’s really fascinating.”

The Dolphins are creative, but they are not experimenting purely for the sake of it.

“McDaniel has taken these normal staples of the run game and they just add a little bit of flair to it, add a little bit of: ‘Hey, why don’t we have our backup running back that we drafted in the third round … let’s put him at receiver on this play and give them a handoff working the route?’” Tice explains.

“This is actually sound. It’s not just gimmicky.”

If you try and take away their ground offense, the Dolphins are happy to make you pay through the air as well.

Fourth-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played his way into the early-season MVP conversation and ranks in the top three amongst starting quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns, as well as completion percentage and passer rating.

His life might be made easier by his plethora of options, but he is still the one steering the ship.

“He’s driving a very super powered car, but I think he’s handling it very well and giving feedback very well,” said Tice, using a Formula One analogy.

Miami’s elite passing game is aided by the fact that it possesses some of the fastest receivers in the NFL to aim for downfield.

The team’s seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, Tyreek Hill – nicknamed ‘Cheetah’ – is currently setting the pace for receiving touchdowns and yards across the league. In an NFL first, he crossed the 1,000-yard mark in just Week 8.

Jaylen Waddle is another electrifying option, while Braxton Berrios and Cedrick Wilson Jr. are more reliable targets out wide.

The Dolphins also recently acquired Chase Claypool from the Chicago Bears, and Mostert and Achane are also both more than capable of chipping in with receptions off designed plays and checkdowns when needed.

Though naturally not as headline-grabbing as the free-scoring offense, the defense is holding its own while still having room to improve.

“Miami’s defense should be much better with the return of star cornerback Jalen Ramsey,” says Schad. “This should allow reputable veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio more flexibility in his calls.”

In his first three games since returning from a torn meniscus, Ramsey has three interceptions and allowed a remarkable 0.0 passer rating when targeted, per Pro Football Focus.

“Miami has the potential for a top five to top 10 NFL defense. It has not happened yet, but improvement is expected as players become more comfortable in Fangio’s new scheme,” added Schad.

Contenders or pretenders?

There’s still a lot of football left to be played, but the Dolphins might just have the aura of a championship team about them.

They currently sit atop the AFC East with a 7-3 record. Their immense offensive output seems to have drastically changed the club’s trajectory, going from middling outsiders to potential Super Bowl participants – maybe even winners.

Miami’s last NFL championship was for the 1973 season and their most recent Super Bowl appearance was in 1984, when they were led by league MVP Marino. In the 39 years since that loss to the 49ers in Super Bowl XX, the Dolphins have won just seven postseason games.

While the fanbase is not nearly as starved of playoff success as the supporters of teams like the Detroit Lions or the Cleveland Browns, ‘Fins fans are desperate for their season to last just that little bit longer.

The Dolphins have faced criticism for not being able to win when it matters, which casts a shadow of doubt over their Super Bowl aspirations. Miami is 0-3 against teams with winning records this season, begging the question: just how serious is this squad?

Tice believes that this is more a reflection on the stellar defenses of the teams that they have played against rather than an in-house problem, while Schad argues that Miami “can beat anybody.”

“The Dolphins and Tagovailoa will also need to show, at some point, that they can win an important game on the road in cold, wet and/or windy conditions. Is this speedy team built for that?” Schad added.

Still, you can only beat who is in front of you, and the Dolphins are doing that far more often than not so far.

Is McDaniel, still young and inexperienced as a head coach, equipped to cope with the pressure and demands of a full NFL postseason though?

“A resounding yes,” said Calhoun.

Time will tell if Miami’s thrilling brand of football is sustainable, but you can’t help enjoying ‘The Greatest Show on Surf’ for now.

After a close victory over the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday, the Dolphins’ itinerary included some rest, meetings, watching game video, getting in a little practice time, hopping on a 1,000-mile flight and spending Thanksgiving preparing to face the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Friday.

“It is more challenging, only because when you play a game, there’s a science behind the 48-hour time window of practicing or not practicing,” the Dolphins quarterback said of the quick turnaround between games. “It’s a lot of mental reps for all of us.

“We’ll probably have one day of field practice to run around and make sure everything is on point and on time. But outside of that, what makes these short weeks tough is that a lot of these things are more mental than physical.”

Jets coach Robert Saleh tried to take an optimistic approach to the short week.

“It’s better than a Thursday game,” he said, “from a timing standpoint and with regards to preparation for your team, at least from my opinion with all the research we’ve done.”

Sure, the Jets and Dolphins are getting one more day to get ready than the six teams with Thanksgiving games. But the spotlight will be on the AFC East rivals during the first game in NFL history to be played on Black Friday.

Miami (7-3) sits atop the division after bouncing back from a 21-14 loss to Kansas City two weeks ago and beating Las Vegas 20-13 last Sunday. With Buffalo in second place at 6-5, the Dolphins have a chance to create some more separation between them and the rest of the AFC East.

“They’re still a division opponent and every time we play them it’s always a tough game, regardless of the outcome,” Miami defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said of facing New York. “That’s the tough thing about this league and the tough thing about playing division opponents (is) they know you, you know them. There typically isn’t much surprise.”

One unfamiliar element for the Jets (4-6): They are starting Tim Boyle at quarterback in place of the benched Zach Wilson while looking to snap a three-game skid and spark an offense that has produced nine touchdowns in 10 games.

“I’m excited to go out there and put my flavor on things and just be myself,” said Boyle, making his fourth NFL start. “Not overdo it, run the offense and put the ball in our playmakers’ hands.”

FOOTBALL FRIDAY

While it’s the first NFL game played the day after Thanksgiving, it’s not the first time the Dolphins or Jets have played a regular-season game on a Friday.

Miami is 1-3 and New York is 2-5 in games played on that day. And this will be the third time the Dolphins and Jets square off on a Friday with the teams splitting the previous two matchups.

The first two games in Dolphins franchise history were Friday losses at home in 1966 against the Raiders and Jets. The Dolphins beat the Jets in 1983, the last time New York played on a Friday. In 2005, Kansas City won after the Dolphins and Chiefs moved up a regular-season matchup in Miami from Sunday to Friday because of Hurricane Wilma.

New York’s first five Friday games came when the Jets were known as the Titans from 1960-62.

“It’s kind of cool to think about it because of Friday night football in high school,” Dolphins right tackle Austin Jackson said. “That’s instantly what I think about. It’ll be my first high school football kind of Friday night game in a minute. Under the big lights, I think it’ll be fun, honestly.”

BRING IT TO A BOYLE

The 29-year-old Boyle made three starts in 2021 for Detroit, his only other NFL starting experience.

The Lions lost all three games. Boyle went 61 of 94 for 526 yards and three touchdowns with six interceptions.

Boyle said his confidence is much higher now and he feels more mentally prepared to start.

“I definitely know what to expect on game day,” he said. “I’m not someone who’s going to be shell-shocked by the moment.”

SHORT-YARDAGE STRUGGLES

The Dolphins have gained more yards per play (7.0) and per game (434) than any team in the league, but have struggled in short-yardage situations.

Miami is ranked 17th in third-down offense and is near the bottom of the NFL on third-and-short.

Against the Raiders, the Dolphins were 3 for 11 on third down. Miami converted just one of four third-down conversion attempts in which fewer than 5 yards were needed. The Dolphins also failed to convert a fourth-and-1.

“That is ever-present right now on our minds,” coach Mike McDaniel said, “because it’s hard to get the nine yards. I wish it was as simple as just get the one. But we’ll continue to work the same way and hold ourselves accountable, and that’s the area of football that we’re still the worst at, relatively, to all the stuff we do.”

DOWN AND OUT

The Jets know the feeling of failing on third down better than anyone.

They have a league-worst 23% conversion rate in those situations after going 0 for 11 at Buffalo. The Jets are on pace to have the worst third-down efficiency in NFL history.

And that’s not all: Their 26.1% conversion rate in the red zone is also last in the league and could set a league mark for futility.

“As advertised,” linebacker Jaelan Phillips said. “That was Jalen Ramsey. He can call his shots, so we call him ‘as advertised.’”

The All-Pro cornerback jumped in front of Tre Tucker and intercepted a pass from Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell in the third quarter Sunday against Las Vegas. Then Ramsey sealed Miami’s 20-13 victory with his second pick, a leaping catch in the back of the end zone with 32 seconds remaining.

For once, the Dolphins’ defense outshined their offense. Miami turned the ball over three times for just the second time this season. But the defense has improved to the point that it could weather that adversity.

The Dolphins (7-3) limited Las Vegas to 36 yards rushing and 260 yards passing, intercepted O’Connell three times and stopped the Raiders on two fourth-down attempts. The Raiders rarely threw the ball in Ramsey’s direction, but he still deflected two passes along with his pair of picks.

“I’m really hoping they throw at him, honestly,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “I mean, both interceptions were out of control in difficulty level. … I think the whole team has gotten a little bit better to a degree since he’s been on our team or since he’s been back, and that’s the type of effect that players of that caliber can have on people.”

The Dolphins entered Week 8 — Ramsey’s season debut — with the 21st-ranked defense in the league, allowing just under 350 total yards and 233 passing yards per game. Since then, they’ve improved to No. 12 and are a top-13 unit against the rush and pass.

That bodes well for Miami as it tries to maintain its hold on the AFC East. The Dolphins play at the division rival New York Jets on Friday.

Phillips said Sunday’s defensive battle could be a preview for future games.

“We might have to win the rest of the season like that,” he said. “You never know how it goes, and on any given Sunday in this league teams can bring their best stuff and we might not have our best stuff. I think the key is to just keep our head down and have that confidence in each other — defense, offense, special teams — and no matter what the situation is we’re going to pull it out.”

WHAT’S WORKING

Miami’s defense was able to protect a one-score lead despite the Raiders having multiple shots at a comeback. Down 7, Las Vegas had three opportunities to tie the game in the final 10 minutes. The Dolphins forced a turnover on downs and intercepted O’Connell twice on those drives.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

Ball security and third-down efficiency. The Dolphins surpassed 400 yards of offense for the fifth time this season but had their third-lowest scoring output. Turnovers and ineffectiveness on third down were big reasons for that. Tua Tagovailoa lost his third fumble of the season on a scramble on Miami’s opening possession, and he threw an interception on the first play of the second half. Miami had multiple turnovers for the second time in three games and went 3 for 11 on third down.

STOCK UP

The secondary. The Dolphins have only had the cornerback duo of Ramsey and Xavien Howard for two games, and they’ve held their opponents scoreless in the second half of both contests.

STOCK DOWN

Jason Sanders entered the game with the fewest field goal attempts of any kicker in the league, and he missed a 50-yard kick with the Dolphins ahead 14-13 in the third. Sanders converted from 41 and 51 yards later in the quarter, but he’s 5 of 15 on attempts of 50-plus yards since 2021.

INJURIES

RB Devon Achane re-injured the same knee that caused him to miss the previous four games. McDaniel said he’s considered day to day.

KEY NUMBER

1,142 — The amount of yards the Dolphins have outgained opponents by, which leads the NFL. They outgained the Raiders by 126 yards Sunday.

NEXT STEPS

After a short week to prepare for the Jets, the Dolphins will play at Washington in Week 13. After that, four of their last five games are at home, where they are undefeated.

Ramsey jumped with both arms stretched over his body and came down in the end zone with an interception of Aidan O’Connell with 22 seconds left, helping the Dolphins stifle the Las Vegas Raiders’ fourth-quarter comeback and overcome three turnovers for a 20-13 win.

“He’s the best corner in the league, man,” Hill said. “The way he laid out for that last pass just goes to show how much he cares about this team. A lot of guys, they’ll knock it down, they’ll say, ‘Ah, I could land weird.’ The way he just laid out for his team just really shows how he cares about his brothers.”

Ramsey also intercepted the Raiders rookie quarterback earlier in the game. He has three takeaways in three games with Miami after missing the first seven with a knee injury.

“I do feel great, I’ve put in a lot of hard work,” Ramsey said. “At the same time, the only way to get ready for football and be really in football shape and feel like the guy that I am is to play more football, and this is only my third game. Techinically, I’m just now in my training camp, preseason, really.”

Tua Tagovailoa was 28 of 39 with 325 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for Miami. He also lost his third fumble of the season on a scramble on the Dolphins’ opening drive. Hill caught his league-leading eighth touchdown of the season and had 146 yards on 10 catches.

Salvon Ahmed caught Tagovailoa’s other touchdown, an 11-yard score in the second quarter.

O’Connell, who finished 24 of 41 with 271 yards and three interceptions, also threw a pick on Las Vegas’ penultimate drive.

With his team down 7, O’Connell dropped back to pass on fourth down at Miami’s 38 when defensive tackle Christian Wilkins wrapped him up. O’Connell tried to force up a pass, and Jaelan Phillips came up with the ball for his first career interception.

“I’m learning how hard the NFL is and how hard it is to win,” O’Connell said. “Kudos to our defense. They played so well in the second half. Kept us in the game. It comes down to our offense. Be better all around, and it starts with me.”

With 10:55 left, the Raiders got the ball at the 50 after a Dolphins punt but ended up turning the ball over on downs after a deep pass from O’Connell to Tucker on second-and-17 that was originally ruled a catch was overturned.

Las Vegas (5-6) had a two-game winning streak snapped, and the victory by Miami (7-3) strengthened its hold atop the AFC East.

“The job’s not done,” Tagovailoa said, “there’s nothing accomplished being 7-3.”

On the Raiders’ opening drive, Miami linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel punched the ball out of the hands of rookie tight end Michael Mayer for what was originally called a fumble returned by safety Jevon Holland for a Dolphins touchdown. Officials overturned it to an incomplete pass after a short review, but the play forced a Las Vegas punt.

On the next drive, Luke Masterson jarred the ball loose from Tagovailoa’s grip on a third down scramble deep in Dolphins’ territory. Miami’s defense then held the Raiders to a field goal, which Daniel Carlson nailed from 34 yards for a 3-0 lead.

The sequence repeated itself late in the first half. Dolphins rookie tight end Julian Hill, on just his second catch of the year, fumbled at Miami’s 32, and it was recovered by Divine Deablo. Miami’s defense, which entered allowing fewer than 17 points in two straight outings, held again and forced a 47-yard field goal by Carlson. The Dolphins took a 14-13 lead into the half.

The Raiders had little offense for much of the game outside of Davante Adams, who finished with 82 yards receiving, including a 46-yard touchdown.

The Dolphins finished with 422 yards of offense despite scoring their fewest points at home all year, but they remain undefeated at home this season thanks to a defensive unit that held its opponent scoreless for the second straight game.

“I like when they score 70 a lot more,” said Phillips, who had two sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. “Today we scored 20 and they scored 13 and we won. Our defense had confidence in each other, no matter what the score was, we had the lead and we were going to keep it.”

INJURIES:

Raiders: S Marcus Epps left in the second quarter with a neck injury and did not return.

Dolphins: RB De’Von Achane, who returned after missing the past four games with a knee injury, exited after Miami’s second drive with a knee injury and did not return. … Hill went to the locker room briefly in the second quarter. He looked to be holding his right hand/wrist but only missed one series.

UP NEXT

Raiders: Host the Chiefs next Sunday.

Dolphins: At New York Jets next Friday, the first time the NFL has scheduled a game for the day after Thanksgiving.

Lowry made his first five 3s and finished 7 of 10 from long range. The Heat were without injured All-Star center Bam Adebayo, but built a 19-point lead in first half and never trailed in winning for the ninth time in 10 games.

“With Bam sitting out, I knew it was an opportunity for me to get more shots,” Lowry said. “A good win on the road against a really, really good team.”

Miami’s been earning its frequent flyer mileage, as the Heat are playing a league-high 12 of 17 games to start the season outside South Florida.

Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. had his best game as a pro with 22 points, and the Heat tied a franchise record with eight players in double figures — as their reserves played the entire fourth quarter.

The Cavs had their winning streak stopped at four. They were understandably dragging after winning in overtime at Philadelphia on Tuesday night to keep their hopes alive for a wild card in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

Darius Garland scored 14 points and Evan Mobley 13 to lead Cleveland, which has dealing with a spate of injuries. With the Cavs down 22 going into the fourth, coach J.B. Bickerstaff gave his starters some needed rest.

“You could see mentally, emotionally, physically, we just couldn’t find it tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “We played a great game last night and obviously expended a lot of energy. We tried, but we just couldn’t find it.

“We don’t make excuses, but it’s the basketball reality that we live in.”

Cavs rookie Craig Porter Jr. scored a team-high 16 in his first career start.

Both teams were missing their best players.

Adebayo sat out with a left hip bruise that he aggravated with a fall during a recent game. Adebayo leads the Heat in scoring (22.8 points), rebounds (10.2) and gives Miami a strong defensive presence inside.

“He’s able to do everything except jump, which is a really bad thing when you’re in the NBA,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Donovan Mitchell was out again for the Cavs, who have been shorthanded due to injuries most of the season. Mitchell, who averages a team-high 29.2 points, has missed four straight games with a hamstring injury the team is treating very cautiously.

Lowry set the tone right after the opening tip, making four 3-pointerrs in the first 4:49 as the Heat sprinted to a 19-7 lead.

The Cavs regrouped and quickly closed the gap, but Lowry hit his fifth straight 3 to make it 27-20. The Miami point guard’s first miss from deep came when he launched from 32 feet — a literal Heat check.

“Kyle was terrific, not just his shooting, but his pace,” Spoelstra said. “We needed him to be aggressive and assertive.”

Lowry said Miami’s coaching staff has been urging him and his teammates to go hard.

“The last 10 games I’ve been trying to push the pace and play a little faster,” he said. “Pushing the pace and keeping teams off balance is something we strive to do and we’re really good at it.”

Cleveland was still within striking distance in the third, but the Heat dropped five more 3-pointers — Lowry had two — to increase the lead to 101-79 after three.

“It seemed like they were all on fire,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re a veteran team and you could see the message early on was to run, run, run. We just couldn’t keep up.”

Miami reserve guard Dru Smith injured his right knee in the second quarter, when he stepped on a raised portion of the floor in front of Cleveland’s bench.

“It is a dangerous floor,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve had a couple of scares, when guys go in that corner. It’s just so dangerous.”

Heat forward Kevin Love didn’t make the trip for personal reasons. It would have been his first game back in Cleveland after being released last season. Love spent nine years with the Cavs and was a core member of their 2016 NBA title team.

“We set the tone our last game too, we just let up a little bit, so I’m glad that we did not do that,” said Jimmy Butler, who rested on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. “I love that. Let my teammates be great. They can have all the minutes and I’ll sit back and relax and enjoy the show.”

Butler scored 16 points against his former team.

The Heat have now won eight of their last nine games after a 1-4 start to the season. Miami nailed a season-high 17 of 35 3-point attempts from the field despite sharpshooter Tyler Herro missing his sixth-straight game with a right ankle sprain.

“Sometimes you do have the opportunities to get better from tough losses,” Heat coach Erik Spolestra said. “We were all very disappointed with how the fourth quarter went the other night. We felt that we were in control for a large part of the game and wound up losing the game. That can humble you.”

For a fourth consecutive game, the Bulls faced a large deficit in front of their home fans, falling behind 12-2 less than three minutes in after Duncan Robinson made two early 3-pointers. Robinson scored 11 of his 22 points in the first quarter and has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game so far this season.

“Duncan, when he does cut, he’s cutting and he’s finishing well at the rim,” Butler said. “He’s throwing lobs, he’s getting layups. He’s making the right passes, he’s handling the pick-and-roll. He’s so comfortable, he’s so confident, just like everyone else around here.”

Coby White led the Bulls with a season-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 15.

Zach LaVine was limited to 13 points on a season-low nine shot attempts. Alex Caruso also finished with 13 points along with a block and a steal. For the defensive-minded Caruso, six straight games with double-digit scoring is the longest streak of his career.

“We weren’t down 20-1 this game,” LaVine said, referencing the Bulls early deficit Saturday night. “So that’s a positive.”

Rookie forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 19 points, while Kevin Love added 11 points with eight rebounds for a Heat bench unit that combined for 42 points, compared to just 21 for the Bulls’ reserves.

“It’s great to see how well the rook is playing,” Love said of Jaquez, a fellow UCLA product. “He was the one guy I watched more than anybody in his years at UCLA. I was tuning in watching him, love his game. I’m just happy I get to be on the right side of those dunks. He’s working extremely hard.”

UP NEXT

Heat: Visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Bulls: Begin a four-game road trip against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

For the third straight game, the Bulls fell behind by double digits and were forced to try to mount a comeback. Despite trailing 22-1 midway through the first quarter, with boos reigning down from the home fans, the Bulls managed to snap their three-game losing streak with a furious fourth-quarter rally.

Alex Caruso scored 11 points and all five Chicago starters reached double figures. Nikola Vucevic added 15 points, Coby White scored 14 and Zach LaVine contributed 13.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 for the Heat, who didn’t trail in the game until the final minute. But Butler missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final seconds. Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Duncan Robinson added 17.

Alex Caruso’s 3-pointer in front of the Heat bench with 51.8 seconds remaining gave the Bulls their first lead of the game, before DeRozan’s turnaround 18-foot fadeaway put Chicago up for good with 22 seconds left. Despite a shooting performance that began miserably from the line and the field, DeRozan hit two free throws with five seconds left to put the game out of reach.

The Bulls missed their first 10 shots and fell behind 22-1 before LaVine broke the shooting drought with a running jumper more than seven minutes into the first quarter.

This was the first matchup between the teams since the Heat rallied from a late fourth-quarter deficit to win a Play-In Tournament game over the Bulls in April. From there, the Heat entered the playoffs and launched their improbable run to the NBA Finals.

UP NEXT

The teams play again on Monday, again at the United Center in Chicago.

Jimmy Butler scored 18 of his 36 points in the third quarter, and the Heat extended the NBA’s current longest winning streak to seven games by beating the Brooklyn Nets 122-115 on Thursday night.

Duncan Robinson added 26 for the Heat, who have won seven straight for the first time since Dec. 30, 2017-Jan. 14, 2018. Bam Adebayo scored 20 for Miami, which has won all seven of those games by single digits — and is one of only three teams without a double-digit win this season. Charlotte and Portland are the others.

“We’re getting a little more organized, more comfortable,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that allows you to be more confident.”

Mikal Bridges and Lonnie Walker IV each scored 23 for Brooklyn, which had won its last five games against Miami. Nic Claxton was 7 for 7 from the field and scored 16 for the Nets, and Cam Johnson added 16 as well.

Walker got his points in 26 minutes off the bench.

“He can score the ball,” Johnson said. “He’s been in attack mode. He’s been locked in.”

Miami lost to Brooklyn on Nov. 1 to fall to 1-4, the worst five-game start in Spoelstra’s 16 seasons. The Heat haven’t lost since and the 8-4 record ties for the fourth-best 12-game start under Spoelstra; the team opened 9-3 on three occasions in that span.

Butler’s 18-point third quarter tied his best for any regular-season quarter in a Heat uniform, done on two other occasions. He’s also had quarters of 18, 21 and 22 in playoff games for Miami.

For the Heat, it was part of a nine-game, 18-day stretch where they’ll play in eight different arenas. The only one they’ll visit twice in that span is the United Center in Chicago, where they’ll open a two-game set against the Bulls on Saturday night to begin a five-game trip.

“It was fun to play at home for once,” Butler said.

Johnson picked up his fourth foul with 3:40 left in the first half, making him the 12th player in the league this season to have that many before intermission — and the second Nets player to do so in as many games, after Claxton did it against Orlando on Tuesday. Johnson’s fourth was an offensive foul, drawn by Kevin Love.

It sent him to the bench. It sent the Heat off and running.

They finished the half on a 14-0 run, the last 12 of those coming following Love taking the charge against Johnson, and went into the break up 60-52. The Nets were 0 for 7 with three turnovers in that stretch, the last of those giveaways coming when Butler stripped Royce O’Neale and set up Haywood Highsmith for a layup 4 seconds before the buzzer.

Miami kept the lead for the entirety of the second half.

“Their little run going into halftime … you can’t have that momentum shift going into halftime,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “That’s something that we need to learn about, finishing the half and having the momentum going in your favor.”

Duncan Robinson added 18 points for Miami, which has scored 113.8 points per game during its six-game win streak. The Heat averaged 102.4 while stumbling to a 1-4 start this season.

No wonder Butler offered a simple explanation for the Heat’s turnaround.

“We’ve been scoring more points,” Butler said.

Miami is 2-0 in group play; the Hornets are 1-1.

The Heat finished off a 4-0 road trip that included wins against San Antonio, Atlanta and Memphis. But they still have a big challenge ahead. Miami returns home Thursday night, then heads back on the road for another five games.

“We talked at the start of this trip that this month would be an opportunity for us to be able to galvanize around a tough schedule and see if we can become better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s always harrowing on the road, but we have found different ways to win.”

P.J. Washington had 32 points and six of Charlotte’s season-high 15 3-pointers in the loss. LaMelo Ball added 28 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.

The Hornets jumped out to a 32-24 lead after a strong first quarter from Washington, who connected on all four 3s, and for a while it looked like it might be their night.

But Miami took advantage of Charlotte’s thin depth in the second quarter and built a 57-48 lead at the break after Butler banked in an off-balance buzzer-beater from halfcourt in traffic to close out the half.

When the Heat needed a basket, Butler or Adebayo had the answer — if not by making jumpers then by finding open teammates cutting to the basket.

Still, Charlotte would rally to cut the lead to 95-90 with eight minutes left after Ball lobbed a pass to Nick Richards for a one-handed dunk and Washington hit a transition 3.

But Butler, who finished 10 of 14 from the field, hit a key fallaway jumper to beat the shot clock with 1:11 left to put the Heat up by seven and essentially seal the win.

The Heat won despite shooting 25.8% (8 of 31) from beyond the arc compared to Charlotte’s 46.9% (15 of 32).

Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a big game off the bench for Miami with 17 points and five rebounds, while playing 32 minutes. He said he feels an extra motivation from teammates to play well in the tournament.

“I think it starting register as the season goes on and what we’re playing for,” Jaquez said. “We’ve got $500,000 on the line, so let’s try to win that prize money.”

The Hornets played without six players due to injury, including starters Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier and top draft pick Brandon Miller and Cody Martin. That meant Theo Maledon and JT Thor were forced into starting roles.

Miles Bridges also remained out, serving the final game of his 10-game league-imposed suspension.

At times the Hornets looked out of sync with seldom-used reserves on the court, which coach Steve Clifford called unacceptable.

“Obviously you’ve got guys in there that don’t play a lot, but they get their reps and they should know what we’re doing,” Clifford said. “We blew two sets in the last three-and-a-half, four minutes there. They’ve all had enough reps so they should know where they’re going.”

When asked what quality was most important to that rise, he was candid.

“I want to say patience, but I think I was guilty a lot of nights of not being patient,” Hyde said. “I think consistent around the players. I think I hid a lot of things from them — in a good way.”

Hyde was voted American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night after guiding the Orioles to an AL-best 101 victories just two years after a 110-loss season. Miami’s Skip Schumaker won the National League award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Hyde led Baltimore through some very lean years before the Orioles improved to 83-79 in 2022 and he finished second in voting to Cleveland manager Terry Francona.

“I had confidence that we were going to turn this thing around, but you struggle to see when,” Hyde said. “Last year, there came a point where you saw the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Baltimore was more than ready to take the next step this season thanks to a sparkling core of young talent. Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson was a unanimous AL Rookie of the Year on Monday night.

“Watching Gunnar win that last night, that was an amazing feeling. So happy for him and his family,” Hyde said. “I’m fortunate to be around a great, great group of guys.”

Hyde received 27 of 30 first-place votes, with Bruce Bochy of Texas getting the other three. Two-time winner Kevin Cash of Tampa Bay finished third. Bochy and the wild-card Rangers swept AL East champion Baltimore in the Division Series on their way to winning the World Series.

Schumaker led Miami to an 84-78 record — including 33-14 in one-run games — in his first season at the helm.

“A lot of this season just didn’t make sense, and I think that’s why our staff would kind of look at each other and go, ‘Here we go again. You know it’s going to happen — down three in the eighth and you know what’s going to happen. It’s bound to happen,’” Schumaker said. “I would rather win by 10 than one, than to come from behind. There’s no doubt about that. But I think it wouldn’t have made it as special as it was this year.”

The Marlins lost to Philadelphia in the Wild Card Series.

Voting by the BBWAA occurred before the start of the postseason. Schumaker defeated Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell — who left to manage the Chicago Cubs last week — and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker in a tight race.

Schumaker received eight first-place votes, three more than runner-up Counsell. Snitker also got eight but had far fewer second- and third-place votes than Schumaker.

The Brewers remain the only current franchise that has never had a Manager of the Year. Counsell finished second for the fourth time in six years.

The Marlins have had four managers win the award — Schumaker, Don Mattingly in 2020, Joe Girardi in 2006 and Jack McKeon in 2003.

Schumaker is the ninth person to win Manager of the Year in his first full season as a big league skipper, joining Hal Lanier, Dusty Baker, Girardi, Matt Williams, Jeff Banister, Dave Roberts, Torey Lovullo and Rocco Baldelli.

“I didn’t expect to manage,” said Schumaker, who played for the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds from 2005-15. “I dreamt of playing in the major leagues one day, and then I fell in love with coaching and then I got this opportunity.”

Hyde is the ninth Manager of the Year who didn’t play in the majors, joining Buck Showalter, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, McKeon, Jim Frey, John McNamara, Snitker and Mike Shildt.

Prior to joining the Orioles, Hyde was a bench coach for the Chicago Cubs under Maddon, and it was Maddon who announced the winners Tuesday night on MLB Network.

Hyde became the fourth Baltimore manager to win, following Showalter in 2014, Davey Johnson in 1997 and Frank Robinson in 1989.

When asked what quality was most important to that rise, he was candid.

“I want to say patience, but I think I was guilty a lot of nights of not being patient,” Hyde said. “I think consistent around the players. I think I hid a lot of things from them — in a good way.”

Hyde was voted American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night after guiding the Orioles to an AL-best 101 victories just two years after a 110-loss season. Miami’s Skip Schumaker won the National League award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Hyde led Baltimore through some very lean years before the Orioles improved to 83-79 in 2022 and he finished second in voting to Cleveland manager Terry Francona.

“I had confidence that we were going to turn this thing around, but you struggle to see when,” Hyde said. “Last year, there came a point where you saw the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Baltimore was more than ready to take the next step this season thanks to a sparkling core of young talent. Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson was a unanimous AL Rookie of the Year on Monday night.

“Watching Gunnar win that last night, that was an amazing feeling. So happy for him and his family,” Hyde said. “I’m fortunate to be around a great, great group of guys.”

Hyde received 27 of 30 first-place votes, with Bruce Bochy of Texas getting the other three. Two-time winner Kevin Cash of Tampa Bay finished third. Bochy and the wild-card Rangers swept AL East champion Baltimore in the Division Series on their way to winning the World Series.

Schumaker led Miami to an 84-78 record — including 33-14 in one-run games — in his first season at the helm.

“A lot of this season just didn’t make sense, and I think that’s why our staff would kind of look at each other and go, ‘Here we go again. You know it’s going to happen — down three in the eighth and you know what’s going to happen. It’s bound to happen,’” Schumaker said. “I would rather win by 10 than one, than to come from behind. There’s no doubt about that. But I think it wouldn’t have made it as special as it was this year.”

The Marlins lost to Philadelphia in the Wild Card Series.

Voting by the BBWAA occurred before the start of the postseason. Schumaker defeated Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell — who left to manage the Chicago Cubs last week — and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker in a tight race.

Schumaker received eight first-place votes, three more than runner-up Counsell. Snitker also got eight but had far fewer second- and third-place votes than Schumaker.

The Brewers remain the only current franchise that has never had a Manager of the Year. Counsell finished second for the fourth time in six years.

The Marlins have had four managers win the award — Schumaker, Don Mattingly in 2020, Joe Girardi in 2006 and Jack McKeon in 2003.

Schumaker is the ninth person to win Manager of the Year in his first full season as a big league skipper, joining Hal Lanier, Dusty Baker, Girardi, Matt Williams, Jeff Banister, Dave Roberts, Torey Lovullo and Rocco Baldelli.

“I didn’t expect to manage,” said Schumaker, who played for the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds from 2005-15. “I dreamt of playing in the major leagues one day, and then I fell in love with coaching and then I got this opportunity.”

Hyde is the ninth Manager of the Year who didn’t play in the majors, joining Buck Showalter, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, McKeon, Jim Frey, John McNamara, Snitker and Mike Shildt.

Prior to joining the Orioles, Hyde was a bench coach for the Chicago Cubs under Maddon, and it was Maddon who announced the winners Tuesday night on MLB Network.

Hyde became the fourth Baltimore manager to win, following Showalter in 2014, Davey Johnson in 1997 and Frank Robinson in 1989.

Miami-Dade County police chiefs took on the role of servers, offering meals to over 300 military veterans and active-duty members.

“We’re here today celebrating all the veterans in the area, commemorating, getting together, having some food, running into veterans we hadn’t seen in some years. I came to this the last two years in a row, and it’s always been wonderful,” said Veteran James Haritos.

The Marlins organize this event annually as a gesture of gratitude to veterans for their service, bringing the community together ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Bendix had spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball career in the Rays’ front office, initially as an intern in 2009. He worked his way up to becoming the team’s senior vice president of baseball development, then general manager, a position he held since December 2021.

Tampa Bay had become his home. The team was his family. And he couldn’t see anything prying him away.

“I’m good where I am, truly,” Bendix recalled thinking when he learned of the Marlins’ interest. “I had a phenomenal situation with the Rays, been there for 15 years, had a lot of success, worked with phenomenal people. … The concept of not working there anymore, it needed to be the exact right situation with the right people in place, frankly, with the right owner.”

But in a deal that came together in just a few weeks, the Marlins convinced Bendix to leave Tampa Bay to become their new president of baseball operations. The Marlins announced the hiring last week, and Bendix was formally introduced by the team at its ballpark on Monday as the third president in club history.

What changed?

“I talked to Bruce,” Bendix said Monday, referring to Miami’s chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman.

During a hiring process that Bendix described as “thorough,” his comfort with the idea of a career change grew as he realized that both he and Sherman’s principles were almost perfectly aligned.

“And that was enough to get me to say, ‘You know what, if I’m going to leave an excellent situation. It has to be the perfect fit,’” Bendix said. “And this is a perfect fit.”

Sherman said that Bendix was “one of many, many” names that the Marlins sifted through during their search for a new leader.

Bendix will take over the department previously overseen by Kim Ng, who had been Miami’s general manager for three seasons. Ng left last month after she and Sherman could not agree on the structure of the department going forward; the Marlins had exercised a contract option to keep Ng in 2024, but Ng declined.

“I was hoping Kim would stay,” Sherman said. “I wish Kim nothing but the best. Terrific lady. Not lost on me, we’re in the playoffs, and I think she’ll be just fine. We had hours and hours and hours of conversations, Kim and I. She made the election not to continue. I respect that decision she made.”

Ng had a hand in constructing a roster that put Miami in the playoffs for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the first time in a full season since the Marlins won the 2003 World Series. Miami lost to Philadelphia in the Wild Card Series last month.

The 38-year-old Bendix, a graduate of Tufts, outside Boston, has been part of a Tampa Bay team that has provided a blueprint for consistent success for nearly a decade. The Rays have made the playoffs in each of the past five seasons and have baseball’s fourth-best regular-season record over that span, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston and Atlanta. Tampa Bay lost in the wild card round this year to eventual champion Texas.

The Rays’ success has come with a payroll that consistently ranks among the bottom third of the 30 teams, with many clubs spending at least $100 million more than Tampa Bay each year. The Marlins are another team that isn’t among the league’s big-spenders but are hoping to replicate some of Tampa Bay’s achievements.

“I’m not blind to Tampa’s success,” Sherman said. “We’re not going to be the 29th payroll. I think they’ve averaged the 29th highest payroll for about a decade or more, and they have the (fourth)-most wins. And that’s like off the charts on any statistical analysis. Whatever secret sauce he has … hopefully he brings that to this organization over multiple years.”

Sherman added he will give Bendix plenty of room to shape the organization. Sherman will weigh in as needed, but he expects that to be infrequently.

Bendix is inheriting a team with strong pitching but struggled before this season to attract high-profile hitters. Miami does have the National League batting champion Luis Arraez, who has expressed interest in a possible longterm contract.

Still, the Marlins recorded the sixth-fewest hits and fifth-fewest runs last season.

Bendix said he’s simply looking for “really good players” when asked his philosophy on roster construction.

“The thing that the Rays always told themselves that I will bring here is that it’s constant evaluation and it’s constantly looking to improve,” Bendix said. “And you have to always be looking to innovate, to try new things, to not be afraid to fail, because we need to maximize every part of the organization that we possibly can. We need to create every edge that we can. And it does not matter how successful any team has been to this point, you always need to be constantly improving.”

Bendix had most recently been the Rays’ senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager. He and the Marlins struck the deal over the weekend, and Miami formally announced it Monday.

“Peter has a great reputation within baseball and is committed to achieving sustained excellence in all areas of Baseball Operations,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said in remarks distributed by the club. “I am looking forward to working alongside Peter to bring the Marlins back to the playoffs.”

The Marlins announced Bendix’s hiring one day before the start of baseball’s annual general managers’ meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Bendix will take over the department previously overseen by Kim Ng, who had been general manager of the Marlins for the last three seasons. Ng elected to leave the team last month after she and Marlins owner Bruce Sherman evidently could not agree on the structure of the department going forward; the Marlins had exercised a contract option to keep Ng in 2024, but Ng declined.

“Peter is an established industry leader with an extensive skillset and deep experience that will continue the momentum we have made on the Major League level, while also strategically building the foundation for sustained success through player acquisition, development, and scouting at all levels,” Sherman said.

Bendix spent 15 seasons with the Rays, starting as an intern and getting promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager in December 2021.

The 38-year-old Bendix moved up the Rays’ ladder briskly: after his time as an intern, he became assistant of baseball operations, coordinator of baseball research and development, and director of baseball development — eventually becoming vice president of that department before getting promoted to the GM role.

“I would like to thank Bruce for his confidence in entrusting me with such an important role,” Bendix said.

Bendix has been part of a team that won consistently, something the Marlins haven’t been able to do. Tampa Bay has made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons — it lost a wild-card series this year to eventual World Series champion Texas — and have baseball’s fourth-best regular-season record over that span, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston and Atlanta.

The Rays did all that with a payroll that consistently ranks in the bottom third on the 30-team MLB list, with many teams spending $100 million more — sometimes much more — than Tampa Bay does on players each year.

He’ll be asked to do much of the same in Miami, another team that isn’t among the big-spenders but that made the wild-card round of this year’s playoffs. The Marlins lost that series to Philadelphia.

The Marlins have batting champion Luis Arraez coming back next season along with first baseman Josh Bell — who exercised his $16.5 million option — but will be without ace right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who will miss 2024 because of surgery on his elbow.

Boston improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-0-0 after losses. The Bruins have 31 of a possible 36 points so far — by far the best in the league, yet slightly behind their pace from last season when they had 32 points through 18 games.

Boston finished with an NHL-record 135 points last season, then lost to Florida in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs while the Panthers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida is 0-1-1 against the Bruins this season.

John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span in the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.

Anton Lundell scored for Florida. The Panthers had won six in a row at home.

Stenlund had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who have won six consecutive games at home and are 7-1-0 in their last eight games. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett also scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots.

Connor McDavid scored twice for the Oilers. Evander Kane also scored for Edmonton, and Calvin Pickard — making his first start since March 27, 2022 — stopped 27 shots.

The Oilers fell to 1-10-1 this season when allowing three or more goals.

“We are trying to keep the puck out of our net, obviously,” McDavid said. “That’s our main focus and we haven’t done that.”

Edmonton jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by McDavid and Kane. Verhaeghe and Mikkola tied it up for Florida, and McDavid scored on a penalty shot 5 minutes into the second period for a 3-2 lead.

It was the 52nd multigoal game of McDavid’s career and his first of the season. He was due for a breakout; the four goals he had entering Monday night represented the fewest he’d had through 14 games played to start any of his nine NHL seasons.

He was also due for a big game at Florida — McDavid entered Monday with only one goal in five appearances on the Panthers’ home ice.

But Mikkola tied it up for a second time just 1:08 after the penalty shot, and Stenlund put the Panthers up for good with 6:18 left in the second.

Mikkola had two goals, total, in his last 148 games played including playoffs entering Monday — spanning 2,559 minutes of ice time for the Finnish defenseman.

“The coaches and teammates trust you to jump up into the play every time you see it,” Mikkola said when asked about his offensive success. “We want to have one defenseman up in the play and get chances that way. I like it.”

It was Florida’s second successful rally from a two-goal deficit this season, after coming from 2-0 down to top Seattle 3-2 on Oct. 28. Edmonton wasted a two-goal lead for third time this season and the second in as many games; the Oilers blew a 2-0 lead in what became a 6-4 loss Saturday at Tampa Bay.

The Panthers improved to 10-0-0 when leading with 5 minutes left in regulation. Bennett sealed it with an empty-netter with 42.6 seconds remaining, his first goal of the season after dealing with injuries for much of the early part of the year.

Florida was without captain Aleksander Barkov, who is listed as day-to-day. He took a knee-to-knee hit in Florida’s win at Anaheim on Friday, and tests over the weekend showed he avoided serious injury.

“You can win on any given night no matter how many injuries you have, but you just can’t win long-term with key guys out,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But the pro scouts have done a good job of finding players that fit the style of hockey we play and we brought in some key players that helped us survive.”

UP NEXT

Oilers: Visit Carolina on Wednesday.

Panthers: Host Boston on Wednesday.

Barkov was hurt when he was hit by Anaheim’s Jackson LaCombe on Friday night in what became a 2-1 win for the Panthers. LaCombe initially was assessed a 5-minute major after the play; the penalty was downgraded to a 2-minute minor for tripping after review.

Barkov needed help getting off the ice and immediately went to the locker room area for evaluation. The Panthers were off Saturday, then returned to the ice for practice Sunday. Barkov won’t play Monday when the Panthers open a three-game homestand against Edmonton.

“We got lucky,” Maurice said.

There were some indications Friday night that Barkov hadn’t been seriously injured; he was walking around postgame, which the Panthers took as a good sign. Still, the official sigh of relief didn’t come until the team returned home Saturday to begin a more complete evaluation.

“We’ll leave him at day to day,” Maurice said.

The Panthers entered Friday’s game as healthy as they’ve been all season. That game marked the return of defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, both of whom had not played since the Stanley Cup Final last June and needed shoulder surgeries after that series. They returned much quicker than originally expected; the Panthers at one point were bracing for both to be out until mid-December.

Barkov appeared in 16 of Florida’s first 17 games this season, with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. If he misses the entire homestand, he’ll also be out for games Wednesday against Boston and Friday against Winnipeg.

“Anytime you’re missing Alex Barkov, it’s never going to be easy,” Ekblad said. “But we’ve got to find a way to get it done against three good teams here coming up.”

Barkov has only had two instances of missing at least 10 consecutive games in his Panthers career. He missed 10 games with a hand injury in 2015-16, then missed 15 games with a back injury in 2016-17.

Barkov is in his 11th season with the Panthers, tied with Stephen Weiss and Roberto Luongo for the most in team history. The Panthers’ captain is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (680), goals (249) and points (648), along with second in assists (399, 16 behind Jonathan Huberdeau) and power-play points (189, one behind Huberdeau).

Maurice said Barkov will be assessed daily, checking things like the level of swelling in the knee and his range of motion. Knee-to-knee hits often end up with a far worse result and can cause serious injury.

“Those are dangerous, dangerous plays,” Maurice said.

Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of their nine games in November.

Florida center Aleksander Barkov left in the third period after a knee-to-knee collision with Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe near center ice. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Barkov would undergo further testing when the team returned to Florida.

“We’ve played some pretty darn good hockey (this month) and most of it is just scratch and claw and grind,” Maurice said. “I think in the first part of this game was the first time we were moving pretty good offensively.”

Frank Vatrano put in his team-leading 12th goal for Anaheim. John Gibson, who was in net for his 441st game with the Ducks and tied Guy Herbet for second-most in franchise history, made 31 saves.

“We weren’t very good. Let’s be honest. The first couple of periods, we were lucky it was only 2-1.,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We waited until the third period. I think we were going before we got the power-play goal, we were getting some zone time. Then, we played with some urgency and it was too little, too late.”

Jakob Silfverberg thought he put in the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive video evidence to show that his shot crossed the Florida goal line.

Silfverberg said he thought the puck made it across the line, which a couple of angles on the videoboard showed, but it was not overturned to a goal.

“I really don’t have anything to say. I think anybody that watched the replay can form their own opinion,” Cronin said. “I saw the same thing that 16,000 people saw. I have to respect what they saw in Toronto. I have no control over it.”

Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots for the Panthers.

Ekman-Larsson gave the Panthers a two-goal advantage at 18:06 of the first period with a snap shot that went in off the far post. It was his seventh goal and 25th point in 59 games against the Ducks.

“I thought we started pretty good in the first, let in one on the (penalty kill) in the third and then it’s a tight game,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I mean it’s not easy coming in here after we played last night (a 2-1 loss at Los Angeles), but we knew it was going to be a tough game and we got two points and that’s most important.

Lundell, who has 85 career points, passed Vincent Trocheck and Ed Jovanovski for the eighth-most points by a Panthers player before age 23.

Luostarinen scored his first goal of the season at 14:50 of the first when he got Lundell’s pass from behind the net, skated to the near post and put a wrist shot past Gibson.

Vatrano got the Ducks within a goal at 7:39 of the third period on the power play when he put in a rebound after Stolarz.

Panthers defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad made their season debuts after missing the first 16 games due to shoulder injuries. Montour led Panthers defensemen in goals last season with 16 and Ekblad was second with 14.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Open a three-game homestand against Edmonton on Monday.

Ducks: Host St. Louis on Sunday.

Cam Talbot made 30 saves, and the Kings won in their own building for the second time in eight games.

“It’s no secret that we need to make this building a little tougher to play in, and I think tonight’s a good step in the right direction,” Talbot said.

Sam Reinhart scored for the third straight game, Sergei Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 26 shots, and the explosive Panthers were held to their lowest-scoring output since being shut out at Minnesota in their season opener on Oct. 12.

“I thought we were a little slow,” coach Paul Maurice said. “I would expect them to be quick, they were sitting on four days’ rest. But I thought we just didn’t move the puck the way we wanted to.”

Fiala, whose offensive production has been offset by his inconsistent puck-handling and mistakes on defense, beat Bobrovsky with a backhand off the rush 1:20 into the game.

Fiala kept up the positive play by feeding Kopitar for a one-timer on the power play and a 2-0 lead midway through the second period.

It was 13th assist and 16th point through 15 games for Fiala.

“Tonight, you saw the energy and the drive and the battle and the commitment,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “If we get that all the time, we got one hell of a player. And it’s there. He’s been a little bit frustrated and we’re trying to help him, but I was proud of him tonight. He made some real good plays and responded well.”

Even more impressive was the defensive effort by the Kings in shutting down the Panthers, who had scored at least four goals in every game during their win streak.

“It wasn’t going for us all night,” Reinhart said. “I think we were trying to do a little too much, and give them credit, they kind of bring that out of you.”

Florida struggled to generate truly dangerous chances, with most of its shots coming from the outside and easily turned away by Talbot.

Reinhart eventually broke through with his 13th goal on a wobbly shot from the slot that beat Talbot with 9:45 remaining in the third period.

“We were able to stick with it and kind of get ourselves back to have a fighting chance,” Reinhart said. “You give them credit that they’re a team when they have the lead, it’s not easy to come back on them.”

Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois sustained an apparent lower-body injury when he lost his footing on a breakaway and crashed into the post late in the third. He went straight back to the dressing room and did not return.

McLellan said Dubois was being evaluated and the team would have a better sense of how serious the injury might be on Friday.

The Panthers did not have defenseman Josh Mahura for the second half of the game because of a lower-body injury, but Maurice did not believe it was significant.

Fortunately for Florida, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour could each make their season debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Ekblad and Montour both underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason.