Coming off two back-to-back road wins against the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz, the Miami Heat are looking to secure their third-straight victory Saturday evening against the lowly Portland Trail Blazers inside Moda Center.
If you can recall, the Heat picked up a historic 142-82 victory in their most recent meeting against Portland last season. Their 60-point win was the largest margin-of-victory for a win in franchise history, 17 points greater than the second-highest differential, while also tying their third-highest scoring output ever at the time.
The Trail Blazers are coming off a 117-111 loss on the road to the Dallas Mavericks, the last of a five-game road trip. Portland is 8-8 at home this season–with wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves (twice), Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, Mavericks and Denver Nuggets–while the Heat are 9-10 away from home.
Miami’s five-point over the Jazz Thursday was infamously “out of the mud”–but it should take any that it can get at this point. Tyler Herro tallied a team-high 23 points with seven rebounds and five assists on 7-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Jaime Jaquez Jr., who finished with 20 points in Thursday’s five-point win, and Nikola Jovic have also been two of the Heat’s best players in Jimmy Butler’s four-game absence, averaging 16.8 and 15.0 points, respectively.
The Heat have won three straight only one other time this season. Can they accomplish that feat again? We shall see!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Josh Richardson (heel) — DOUBTFUL
- Jimmy Butler (suspension) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (G-League) — OUT
Portland Trail Blazers:
- Deandre Ayton (calf) — QUESTIONABLE
- Jerami Grant (face) — OUT
- Matisse Thybulle (ankle) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Jaime Jaquez Jr., F
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Portland Trail Blazers
- Anfernee Simons, G
- Shaedon Sharpe, G
- Deni Avdija, F
- Toumani Camara, F
- Deandre Ayton, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 10:00 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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