Game story:
The Miami Heat and Orlando Magic will meet for the second time this season tonight inside the Kaseya Center.
Miami defeated Orlando on their home floor not too long ago while missing several key players.
Both the Heat and Magic have identical records at 21-16 and are tied for the 7th seed, with Miami currently owning the tie breaker after their win in Orlando earlier.
Even though they are sitting at 7th, both teams are just 1.0 game out of the 4th seed, so their matchup this evening will be crucial for Eastern Conference positioning.
The Magic will be without the services of their young talent Franz Wagner.
The Heat, who have consistently been battling the injury bug, have some changes to their injury report.
Caleb Martin was upgraded to probable to return from his ankle injury that has kept him out some time.
Tyler Herro wound up on the report last night with a shoulder injury. He was initially listed as questionable, but just recently got downgraded to doubtful.
The Heat also most likely won’t have Kyle Lowry again, so both players in the starting backcourt will be unavailable. RJ Hampton, the only other true PG on the entire roster, has came back from the g-league Skyforce team and is ready to go.
Jimmy Butler is making progress but not quite ready for his return yet. It is expected that Butler could be ready for either Sunday or Monday’s game for one of the back-to-back set matchups.
The Magic and Heat are coming off recent losses and are looking for a bounce back performance.
Last season, Miami won the season series against Orlando 3-1 and have won 12 out of the last 15 matchups against them.
That includes 7 straight home victories against the Magic. Miami is 7-0 against division rivals so far this season; so there are two streaks on the line for the home team this evening.
Very impressively, the Miami Heat have won 20 straight division games at home, which is good for an NBA record.
Tonight’s game will tip off at 8:00 PM ET on Bally Sports Florida.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Caleb Martin (ankle) — Probable
- Kyle Lowry (hand) — Doubtful
- Tyler Herro (shoulder) — Doubtful
- Jimmy Butler (toe) — Doubtful
- Cole Swider (g league) — OUT
- Dru Smith (knee) — OUT
Orlando Magic:
- Wendell Carter Jr. (knee) — Questionable
- Gary Harris (calf) — OUT
- Franz Wagner (ankle) — OUT
- Jonathan Isaac (illness) — OUT
- Kevin Harris (g league) — OUT
- Jett Howard (g league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- RJ Hampton, G
- Jaime Jaquez Jr, G/F
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Nikola Jovic, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Orlando Magic:
- Jalen Suggs, G
- China Okeke, G
- Paolo Banchero, F
- Caleb Houstan, F
- Goga Bitadze, C
Betting Lines:
- Check the current 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!
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Anyone hear anything about the Heat in the trade rumors?
Zach Lowe mentioned a possible Terry Rozier trade, which should make some people here happy. He suggested Kyle Lowry plus a draft pick. His only trepidation was that would cap out the Heat moving forward.
Marc Stein has included the Heat on the list of teams interested in Dejuante Murray. I like that fit better because of his defense, but I don’t know how much of that is earned and how much is just reputation. I also can’t see the Hawks being willing to send one of their best players to a team that beats them four times a year, but maybe I’m wrong there.
I still think the most likely move is that the Heat make a minor addition at the trade deadline or buyout market. They’ve had a few good years in a row, this team is young and growing, and they clearly have their eye on the new salary cap rules. Being below the cap while Milwaukie, Boston, and possibly New York are maxed out should give them a big advantage with team building in the future.
One other thing I’m keeping my eye on is Caleb Martin. He still has a good reputation in the league after the ECF, his contract is reasonable and expires next season, and most importantly, this team has gelled with him on the bench. He might be a trade candidate due to circumstances.
I only read that nobody wants to sign Heat role players, because they tend to play a lot better in Miami… and if Miami let them go, then that’s for a reason.
Unbelievable, and those people call themselves professionals.
Miami Heat role players play well, because they are well trained and used according their strengths.. if others cant do the same, no wonder why those players doesn’t perform well somewhere else.
I read the same article. It certainly has been true in some cases like Whiteside or maybe McGruder. Others, like Strus especially, or even Derrick Jones Jr have carved out their own niche.
Another has been K Nunn, who went from All Rookie first team to out of the league in 4 short years.
That’s because vogel isn’t known as a developer of talent, he is a defensive minded coach. Whoever his assistant was didn’t have good scheme to offensively utilize him. Which is crazy because Nunn is good shooter, and 3 level scorer.
Airplane mode is playing great in Dallas.
That’s a bunch of BS, coaches are supposed to maximize there talents, it isn’t our fault that most teams have a below average coach, with a not so good system. For example the lakers have a talented roster, but ham sandwich sucks as a coach. Also Detroit is another example. If spo was coaching them, they would be a play-in tournament caliber team, so 9 or 10th seed. Bottom line talent is underutilized every day in the league.
Martin has a player option for $7+ million at the end of this season. Considering what Strus and Vincent got, there is a good chance that he’ll opt out. He can likely get $10-12 million at least in this market. If the Heat believe that he’ll opt out, I think you trade him during this period if you can get a player and second round pick that might help us in the future. I really like Martin, but Highsmith is very similar, and with the emergence of Jaquez (who is taller than the other two) and Jovic, he might be the most expendable.
He was injuried at the beginning of the season, and he is injuried now. In between, he wasn’t at his best. I m not sure he has a good value now. And there is not enough time till trade deadline to elevate it.
To be honest, I like our young players more then Martin, but we should forget, that he is a proven player, playing good PO series, including finals, which we cannot say for anybody in this rooster but Butler, Lowry, Bam and Dunc.
I would like both of them as a pg candidate. The most likely one that we might is rozier. For the price of Lowry and a pick, I would do it, even if cap out. Then maybe get pf/c in a buyout or use one of our exceptions if possible. I like Murray also, but like you said why would they trade him to a rival that always beats up on them. Plus they would probably tax us more for that same reason asking for more picks and maybe 3 young players. Most I would do for Murray is probably 1st round pick, a future 2nd, Martin, Bryant, and either Lowry or Duncan. That’s the most I would, since his value has lessened, since being traded there. Also his D is both earned and reputation, he earned it back with the spurs,and coasting reputation with hawks. If he plays with heat, we could turn him into a fringe all – nba defender 3rd, 4th or 5th tier defender for the pg position.