After the Miami Heat’s first two-game losing skid since January, they will look to bounce back against the lowly Washington Wizards Sunday at 6:00 p.m. EST inside Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla.
The Heat are coming off two back-to-back road losses on consecutive nights to the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder–both of which slipped away down the stretch after Miami controlled the game in the first half. Bam Adebayo’s struggles were magnified, but the Heat lacked the capable point-of-attack answers to shut down both Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, two of the top scorers the NBA has to offer.
On a lighter note, they did not move in the standings as a No. 6 seed despite the standings. Tied with the Philadelphia 76ers at 35-28, the Heat are 1.5 games back of the Orlando Magic and two back of the New York Knicks in the East standings.
The Wizards, meanwhile, are currently tied with the Detroit Pistons for the NBA’s w0rst record at 10-53. Though they are coming off a 12-point win over the Charlotte Hornets Friday, led by Kyle Kuzma, who had 28 points on 11-of-23 shooting with eight rebounds and nine assists.
Sunday marks the third of four meetings between the two teams this season. Miami secured victories in their first two meetings, including a 110-102 win inside Capital One Center on Feb. 2.
It will also mark the first of two home games for Miami before it heads off on another four-game road-trip. In lieu of its two-game losing streak, its road record (18-15) is no longer better than its home record (17-13) despite its road NET Rating (plus-0.9) being marginally better (plus-0.4).
Can the Heat secure a much-needed bounce back against one of the worst teams in the NBA? I guess we’ll see Sunday!
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
- Alondes Williams (G-League) — OUT
Washington Wizards:
- Marvin Bagley III (back) — OUT
- Richaun Holmes (toe) — QUESTIONABLE
- Isaiah Livers (hip) — OUT
- Landry Shamet (calf) — QUESTIONABLE
Projected Starting 5:
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier, G
- Duncan Robinson, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Nikola Jovic, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Washington Wizards:
- Tyus Jones, G
- Bilal Coulibaly, G/F
- Deni Avidja, F
- Kyle Kuzma, F
- Richaun Holmes, C (if active)
Betting Lines (at the time of this publishing):
- Spread: Heat -11
- O/U: 228.5
- Moneyline: Heat -650, Wizards +450
Check out those lines and more at Fanduel Sportsbook!
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 6:00 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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I hope the lessons of the last game, Heat/OKC have been learnt.
1.With the Heat up 11-0 in the 3rd qtr, OKC made a 17-0 run before Spo called a Heat timeout.That is a loss of 6 consecutive possessions by the Heat before calling a timeout, a lot of time and loss of possessions to wait for.
2.With 45 seconds left in the 4th qtr and clock running out on OKC, Rozier bailed OKC out by taking a meaning less foul that reset the clock of possession for OKC. The equivalent of giving OKC an extra possession in the last 45 seconds which every team wants to avoid.
3.Bam has logged the most minutes of any Heat player this season, 1863 minutes (54 games x 34.5mpg) .Next is JJJ with 1681.5 minutes (57 games x 29.5mpg) and then Duncan with 1641.4 minutes (58 games x 28.3 mpg).Notably though, some players from other teams in the NBA have looked in more minutes ,21k. But why it matters for Bam, is that he plays the most physically punishing position, the center position. This gradually takes its toll on the body when you have to bang against big bodies, you are double and sometimes triple teamed as OKC did to him, and also have to run up and down across the whole length of the court in 34.5mpg for offensive and defensive rebounds, protect the rim and also expected to score at the other end. Against OKC, he barely had enough lift to shoot those mid rangers he had been making lately. Perhaps, his logged minutes are beginning to take its toll on him. The Heat needs Bam and Herro to play together deep in the play off which they have never done in the past 4 seasons. As Herro nears his return back to the team, Bam has to have fresh legs to make that pairing work, as we have seen it happen smoothly and effectively this regular season. Something, Spo and co should ponder.
Go Heat, Go!
Yes I was wondering bout that OKC run and no timeout for Spo. It was a first after a looong time.
Yep.
It is impossible to tell what kind of team the Heat will have until/unless everyone is healthy. The team is 35-28. Of the 63 games so far, here are the games played and missed by the team’s key players:
Hopefully, we will find out what the team’s true potential is once everyone is healthy. Compared to last year’s team, this team is better. Rozier is an upgrade over Vincent and Lowry and Robinson 2024 is an upgrade over Strus. Love and Martin 2024 are upgrades over their 2023 versions and Jaquez is a bonus.
Time will tell.
GO HEAT!!!
ty bam jim are always injured.ty is to young to be injued this much no way im giving him a big contract
I hope so. Maybe there could be also some minutes for bench boys.