Trade season has now come and gone, as the Miami Heat have faced months of outside noise and headlines surrounding the organization. Tonight, the team and fanbase can finally embrace a new era after the official finalization of Jimmy Butler’s trade to the Golden State Warriors.
Coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned the ability to turn the page, saying that the Heat roster is now in a “good spot.” Without anymore distractions creating a cloud around the team, everybody involved can focus on just playing basketball and winning games. Miami is still in the thick of a playoff push, sitting at the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed at a 25-24 record.
Newly acquired pieces Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kyle Anderson are not with the team yet. Wiggins anticipated Heat debut is expected to take place Monday back at home against the rival Boston Celtics.
Tonight, Miami’s game day will feature another road matchup against the Brooklyn Nets inside the Barclays Center. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo led the way in a victory over the Nets just two weeks back, and will continue to be a focal point of the team’s offense for the foreseeable future.
The All-Star duo is coming off some elite outings in the Heat’s previous win as well.
In the Nets last matchup against Miami, they did not have the services of their best young player in Cameron Johnson. He is now available and set to start tonight— averaging a career-high 19.3 points and 4.0 rebounds on efficient 49% shooting. Johnson and Brooklyn’s defensive talented big man Nic Claxton will likely matchup against the Herro and Adebayo duo, respectively.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM EST on FanDuel Sports Network Sun.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Kevin Love (illness) — QUESTIONABLE
- Haywood Highsmith (Achilles) — PROBABLE
- Nikola Jovic (calf) — PROBABLE
- Andrew Wiggins (trade pending) — OUT
- Kyle Anderson (trade pending) — OUT
- Davion Mitchell (trade pending) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (g-league) — OUT
- Dru Smith (Achilles) — OUT
Brooklyn Nets:
- Bojan Bogdanovic (foot) — OUT
- Noah Clowney (ankle) — OUT
- Maxwell Lewis (tibia) — OUT
- De’Anthony Melton (ACL) — OUT
- Ben Simmons (not with team) — OUT
- Cam Thomas (hamstring) — OUT
- Dariq Whitehead (g-league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Duncan Robinson, G
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Brooklyn Nets:
- D’Angelo Russell, G
- Keon Johnson, G
- Cameron Johnson, F
- Ziare Williams, F
- Nic Claxton, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: Fanduel Sports Network 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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