Game story:
The 16-12 Miami Heat will face off against the division rival Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are sporting a 12-15 record and currently sit at 10th in the Eastern Conference, as Miami sits at 6th.
Both teams are coming off wins in their last games on Wednesday night, as the Heat went into Orlando without the services of Jimmy Butler and beat the Magic 115-106.
Jimmy Butler is also listed as OUT for tonight’s game with that calf injury.
Kevin Love, who was OUT last game with an illness, is now off the injury report and available.
Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo helped lead the way for the Heat in Butler’s absence. Herro finished with a statline of 28/8/7 on 10/17 shooting and 4/5 from 3, as Adebayo contributed 18 PTS and 7 RBS on 7/15 shooting.
Herro was a +10 on the floor, and Duncan Robinson and Thomas Bryant also made a big impact with a +16 and +20 respectively when on the floor.
Miami shot 48% from the field as a team and 52% from deep, along with 83% from the free throw line.
They also held the Magic to just 25% shooting from three and shut down their MVP and reigning ROTY winner in Paolo Banchero.
Banchero had his worst statistical performance of the season against the Heat, with just 10 PTS on an abysmal 2/12 shooting and 0/3 from 3 point range.
Banchero has helped lead that young Magic team to a current top 4 seed in a competitive Eastern Conference, but the Heat defense did their job in containing him.
The “bench mob” was also outstanding, as the 4 man bench rotation of Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant combined to shoot 52% from the field, 9/18 (50%) from three, and a dominant 51 points combined.
Bam Adebayo on the HEAT’s depth and bench performance last night in Orlando:
“We got a great bench mob. You have guys who are growing into veterans coming off our bench, putting up numbers, making plays, playing together, and they understand their role.”
The Heat will look to now shut down star player Trae Young for Atlanta tonight the same way they did with Banchero.
Young can score in bunches and shoot the lights out from deep, and the 1-2 punch in the backcourt with Dejounte Murray is tough when they are both on.
However, Miami has always done a good job at holding Young to some tough shooting nights over the years. Look for the team to throw multiple different defenders on him in the perimeter, such as Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson.
The Heat will look to pick up back to back wins before a couple days off in preparation for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas night.
This evening game will tip off at 8:00 PM ET on Bally Sports Florida.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Jimmy Butler (calf) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (g league) — OUT
- RJ Hampton (g league) — OUT
- Cole Swider (g league) — OUT
- Dru Smith (knee) — OUT
Atlanta Hawks:
- Jalen Johnson (distal radius fracture) — OUT
- Kobe Bufkin (thumb) — OUT
- AJ Griffin (personal reasons) — OUT
- Mouhamed Gueye (back) — OUT
- Seth Lundy (g league) — OUT
- Miles Norris (g league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5:
Miami Heat:
- Kyle Lowry, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Caleb Martin, F
- Jaime Jaquez Jr, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Atlanta Hawks:
- Trae Young, G
- Dejounte Murray, G
- Saddiq Bey, F
- Deandre Hunter, F
- Clint Capela, C
Betting Lines (at the time of this publishing):
- Check the odds out at FanDuel!
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 8:00 PM EST
- TV: Bally Sports Sun (Eric Reid, John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
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if the goal is to win a champ this roster can not do it .we are close need a big and a little.jimmys clock is ticking
Yes, 100% agree. But, gonna have to be happy getting one. Get a ball handler who can play two ways, an A- level player. And only lose one of Ty or Dunc and maybe Jovic, with picks. I would go to battle adding DeRozan with just Bryant and ORob as our backup bigs, and Kevin for when we need some spacing or if he is hitting his threes. We got a shot with that lineup.
Going to battle with Bryant or ORob as back up for Bam against the Jokics, Portzingis,Davies seem like under estimating the competition to me, imho.
DID THE HEAT DODGE A BULLET, OR WHAT?
Damian Lillard is averaging 26.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7 assists in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks, shooting 43 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. Lillard is owed $216.2 million over the next four seasons, at an average annual salary of $54.2 million. This includes $63.2 million in the 2026-27 campaign, when he will be 36+.
Tyler Herro is averaging 23.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He is shooting career highs in field goal (47 percent) and three-point percentage (41 percent).Tyler Herro is owed $120 million over the next four seasons at an average annual salary of $30 million. He will be 27 when the contract expires.
Excellent comparison. My take on Tyler Herro is that he is a Sun’s Devin Booker type of player. If Herro continues on his off court work ethics to improve on his game, the sky is his limit. He has shown some improvement just by putting in some work this past post season.Great players like Jordan, Bird, LeBron etc remained in the limelight for a long time not just because of their skill set but their off work ethics. Sincerely, rooting for Herro to be one and not hoping to steer up any controversy, I hope that the Heat hang onto him.
I believe if the Heat made a trade for a ‘good fit’ player AND kept Herro, it’d be the best of all scenarios.
how bout ty and dunc for brogdon and jeremy grant
Herro’s scoring is too valuable. Collins is cheaper and a better rebounder than Grant, who is averaging 3.8 rebounds per game/4.0 career, which sucks big time for a PF. Collins averages 8.2/8.0 rpgs in his career.
I would trade Duncan and Jovic or a pick for Brogdon or Lowry for Collins and a pick (Utah will appreciate getting him off their books).
Yup. Negotiating from a position of strength and in a manner that is fair to both sides is the key. Utah would love to get off the $50-75 million still owed to Collins.
Both Brogdon and Grant have worse defensive ratings than Herro and only slightly better than Duncan. Both are older. Both have missed more games the last 5 years than Herro. Herro has better stats than either. So, no.
Check the stats at any site if you think these aren’t correct.
I agree. I have mentioned before that he reminds me of a younger Devon Booker, who was a one-way player until Phoenix brought in CP3 and began focusing on defense. Once Booker began working on his defense, he became an all-star level player. Herro is same size/weight and has similar athleticism. The work ethic on the defensive side is all he lacked. I can see he is working on it. Last year, his defensive rating was middle of the pack. This year’s should be better.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=top+shooting+guard+defensive+ratings+22-23
The only reason to trade Herro would be to get a superior PG.
how many games has ty player maybe 7.worried about his durability sun man
Fair point, yet the 2 guys you suggested have both played fewer games in the last 5 years. Or 4, if you start from his rookie season.
Today’s game against Atlanta, just showcased my arguement all season against the focus on a pg who probably won’t add much to the Heat’s offense. As excellent a player as Trae Young is, Atlanta did not make a run until his team mates started knocking down open shots. The emphasis for this Heat team is consistency in offense ( i,e. guys knocking down open shuts as Duncan did in the 4th qtr to bail out the Heat) and how to defend against bigger opponents, imho.