The Miami Heat look to even the season series against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers Friday evening inside Kaseya Center at 8:00 p.m. EST.
The Pacers have bested the Heat in two of their first three meetings of the season, including a 128-115 defeat on Jan. 2. Haliburton led the way with 33 points and 15 assists on 13-of-21 shooting, including 6-of-13 from 3-point range in 35 minutes.
Miami is coming off one of its best offensive performances of the season against the Atlanta Hawks (after its worst), draining 23 triples–one away from tying a franchise record–en route to a 131-109 win.
The Heat had four different players–Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Davion Mitchell and Bam Adebayo–score at least 20 points for the first time all season. At least three Heat players have scored at least 20 eight other times, but this marks the first time that four have since April, 7, 2024 … against the Pacers.
The Pacers have won four of their last five and nine of their last 13. The Miami Heat, meanwhile, haven’t won two straight in a calendar month (Jan. 25-27).
Will they buck that trend Friday?
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Bam Adebayo (calf) — QUESTIONABLE
- Josh Christopher (G-League) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (G-League) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (G-League) — OUT
- Kel’el Ware (ankle) — PROBABLE
- Andrew Wiggins (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE
Indiana Pacers:
- RayJ Dennis (G-League) — QUESTIONABLE
- Enrique Freeman (G-League) — QUESTIONABLE
- Isaiah Jackson (achilles) — OUT
- Quenton Jackson (G-League) — QUESTIONABLE
- Bennedict Mathurin (wrist) — OUT
- T.J. McConnell (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Indiana Pacers:
- Tyrese Haliburton, G
- Andrew Nembhard, G
- Aaron Nesmith, G/F
- Pascal Siakam, F
- Myles Turner, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 8:00 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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is ware closing to wemby or clint capela
closer
More like closer to Likely or Kareem.
It will be hard to beat Indiana tonight if Bam and/or Wiggins is out. If both are out, forget-about-it. If both are able to play, it should be a real dog fight. Indiana’s offense vs Miami’s defense.
GO HEAT!!!
if bam is out we can see ware flourish.with bam in there hes restricted
That is too much to expect of a 20 year old who has much to learn. If Bam is out the team’s defensive rating is near bottom. If Bam and Ware are in together, it is near the top (elite).
u cant really judge ware with bam playing with him.what is his upside on offense
High ceiling on both offense and defense. Give him a couple of years. Once he adds bulk and develops consistent mid-range shot to go with the lobs and 3 pointers, he may be our next all-star.
On an unrelated item, durability.
Mitchell, in his first 3 years with Sacto, played an average of 75.7 games per year. This year he has already played 51 with 25 to go.
Wiggins played 71+ games 3 of the last 4 years and has played 49 this year.
Anderson played 67-79 games per year from 2020-2024. He’s played 42 this year.
That’s what Riley meant by availability.
About a month in, maybe 15 or so games, does not allow one to conclude what does or doesn’t work. I am not a fan of Ware just standing in the cozy corner, but I really love what he and Bam bring to the defense. The way Ware impacts the shots that the opposition is trying to take is something I haven’t seen since at least Whiteside.