The Miami Heat look to bounce back against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in a rematch of the 2023 NBA Finals Friday inside Ball Arena at 9:00 p.m. EST.
The Heat have been at the wrong of end of two consecutive one-possession losses to the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, respectively. It’s marked their first two-game skid of the season, remaining winless against .500 teams this season. On Wednesday against Phoenix, the Heat shot 13-of-28 inside the restricted area and finished in the 5th percentile in rim accuracy, according to Cleaning The Glass. It marked the fifth time this season the Heat placed in the 36th percentile or worse in rim accuracy, a far from ideal mark for a team that already has trouble generating consistent rim pressure.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, are coming off two thrilling victories over the Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder, handing OKC their first loss of the season. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has continued to showcase why he’s the best player in basketball, averaging 28.8 points on 63.1 percent true shooting while leading the NBA in rebounds (13.5) and assists (11.0) through the first two weeks of the season.
Friday will be an excellent litmus test for Miami–especially Heat center Bam Adebayo, who’s struggled (relative to his usual self) through the early portion of the season. Adebayo hasn’t quite been up to par defensively while looking extra tentative and outmatched offensively, averaging just 14.9 points on 39.8 percent shooting.
Not including Denver’s gentlemen sweep of the 2023 NBA Finals, the Heat have lost eight straight regular season games against Denver. Can they end that skid and avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season? We’ll see!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (return to conditioning) — QUESTIONABLE
- Kevin Love (return to conditioning) — OUT
Denver Nuggets:
- Aaron Gordon (calf) — OUT
- Vlatko Cancar (ankle) — OUT
- DaRon Holmes II (achilles) — OUT
- Jamal Murray (concussion) — QUESTIONABLE
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Nikola Jovic, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Denver Nuggets:
- Jamal Murray, G
- Christian Braun, G
- Michael Porter Jr., F
- Peyton Watson, F
- Nikola Jokic, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 9:00 PM EST
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network 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)
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I hope Spo lets Ware play. I would like to see Bam and Ware play together, hopefully starting tonight. He can alternate Bam, Ware (and possibly Bryant) to cover Jokic in order to mix things up.
Jovic is not a front court player but he may be a wing or even a PG such as Ben Simmons with a higher potential offensive upside. I would like to see him share running the second team offense with with Jaquez, (if he is back today). Hopefully, Pelle, Highsmith, Jaquez, Burks and Jovic all get some meaningful playing time tonight.
GO HEAT!
P.S. As bad as the Miami has played, the team is only 1/2 game out of third place.
Are you seeing my 2 comments below about the Bucks? From hoopshype/espn. I have an orange notice above each saying Awaiting for approval. That hasn’t happened to me before. Wtf?
It seems that putting quotation marks at the beginning and end caused the comments to not post. I removed them and voila! Weird.
WTF?
look at size difference and spo and co still think bams a 5 lol
Because Milwaukee is in the second apron of the luxury tax, it is prohibited from aggregating salaries to make a deal and from taking back more money than it sends out. “The second apron coming in now really hamstrings them,” a rival general manager told ESPN. “They’re doing due diligence trying to find options, but of course they know it.” – via ESPN
This is why the Heat want to avoid the second apron.
Sounds like Bucks have a problem. We don’t need any of their rejects.
The speculation is true. The Bucks are indeed starting to canvas the league for a trade, league executives told ESPN. But no, not that trade. The concept of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo reaching the trade market is ripe for rumors and trade machine computations, but it’s not a reality as of now for Antetokounmpo or the Bucks, sources said. Teams have let the Bucks know in recent months they would make an offer for the Greek Freak if that day ever comes. But those are incoming calls, not outgoing and it’s likely to remain that way. – via ESPN
Freak ain’t goin anywhere unless they get a ransom in return. The ones they are stuck with are ’30 somethings’ Dame, Middleton and Lopez.
Well, this wil be telling game.
No Murray (maybe) no Gordon, we gotta dig our heels in here