GAME PREVIEW: Heat close homestand with Pistons

The Miami Heat will close their brief two-game homestand against the Detroit Pistons Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Pistons, who experienced an NBA-record 28-game losing streak earlier this season, have lost eight of their last 10 and are just 0.5 games ahead of the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the NBA. Detroit suffered a 113-91 loss to Orlando Sunday.

Miami’s 126-120 win over the Utah Jazz Saturday gave it their sixth win over its last seven and 10th over its last 13. The Heat are 34-26 and are currently the No. 7 seed–one game back of Philadelphia and a 0.5 game back of the Orlando Magic for the No. 6 seed–in a very tight middle of the East.

Superstar forward Jimmy Butler posted a season-high 37 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 3-of-3 from the 3-point line and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line with seven assists in the Heat’s six-point win. Bam Adebayo followed suit with 23 points and seven rebounds, despite missing a seven-minute chunk in the third quarter due to injury.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra took home the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award for the month of February. The Heat went 8-3 during the month and 6-1 away from home despite starting eight different lineups. Since the start of February, they own the No. 4 NET Rating (plus-7.8), No. 17 offense and No. 2 defense, trailing only the Minnesota Timberwolves.

These two teams have not met since opening night, where the Heat secured a 103-102 lead after nearly squandering a 19-point fourth-quarter lead. Adebayo led the Heat with 22 points and eight rebounds on 7-of-13 from the floor, while Cade Cunningham and athletic big Jalen Duren impressed on the opposite end.

Relative to the rest of the league, the Heat have been fairly mediocre against teams with a bottom-10 point differential, going 17-7 (18th) with a plus-2.0 average point differential (23rd) and a minus-2.3 NET Rating (28th) against such teams. Can they take care of business against teams they should beat?

Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):

Miami Heat:

• Jamal Cain (G-League) — OUT
• Tyler Herro (foot) — OUT
• Kevin Love (heel) — OUT
• Josh Richardson (shoulder) — OUT
• Dru Smith (knee) — OUT
• Alondes Williams (G-League) — OUT

Detroit Pistons

• Buddy Boeheim (G-League) — OUT
• Tosan Evbuomwam (G-League) — OUT
• Quentin Grimes (doubtful) — DOUBTFUL
• Jared Rhoden (G-League) — OUT
• Stanley Umude (G-League) — OUT

Projected Starting 5:

Miami Heat:

• Terry Rozier, G
• Duncan Robinson, G
• Jimmy Butler, F
• Nikola Jovic, F
• Bam Adebayo, C

Detroit Pistons:

• Cade Cunningham, G
• Jaden Ivey, G
• Ausar Thompson, F
• Isaiah Stewart, F
• Jalen Duren, C

Betting Lines (at the time of this publishing):

• Spread: Heat -11
• O/U: 218
• Moneyline: Heat -650, Pistons +460

Check out those lines and more at Fanduel Sportsbook!

Broadcast Info:

• Tipoff: 7:3,0 p.m. EST
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
• Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)

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