Sunday night’s game against the New York Knicks continued an unfortunate, and continued pattern, for the Miami Heat. Once a 19-point first half lead was vanished, and would go on to lose in overtime.
On the second night of a back-to-back, Miami will look to quickly move on from another blown opportunity and get back into the win column. They will host the 15th seed Washington Wizards inside the Kaseya Center.
The Wizards are sitting at dead last in the Eastern Conference— sporting a 11-48 record.
However, don’t let the record in the standings distract from the fact that both the Heat and Wizards have gone just 3-7 over their last 10 games. Even with all the struggle of soul searching of the Heat’s new-look roster, they still remain in the East’s seventh seed at 28-31 overall.
It’s looking more likely that Miami will be destined for the play-in tournament once again. They are a full five games behind the sixth seed Detroit Pistons, and each loss seems like a step back for the squad as this season progresses.
Still, the Heat have the talent to still make things interesting as the season begins to come to the final stretch before playoffs. They could have a golden opportunity to get some rhythm and respond against this struggling Wizards group. Although, no game in the NBA should be viewed as an easy win, especially for Miami.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Josh Christopher (G-League) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (G-League) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (G-League) — OUT
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (ankle) — DOUBTFUL
- Andrew Wiggins (ankle) — DOUBTFUL
Washington Wizards:
- Malcolm Brogdon (ankle) — OUT
- Saddiq Bey (knee) — OUT
- Jordan Poole (elbow) — OUT
- Colby Jones (g-league) — OUT
- Jaylen Martin (g-league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Washington Wizards:
- Carlton Carrington, G
- Bilal Coulibaly, G
- Kris Middleton, G/F
- Kyshawn George, F
- Alexander Sarr, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 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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Miami should be tanking too. I think Spo and the Heat are clearly trying to win, but one curiosity all season has been the minutes of Rozier.
Not all things fans say are right. I’m sure I’ve called out Duncan’s play numerous times, but he currently leads the Heat in +/-. I know it’s not an individual stat per se, but it shows how the team performs with players on the court.
What is curious is the consistent minutes of Terry Rozier. He’s -131 (only Jaquez is worse). No one else is close to these two. Jaquez getting some run, makes some sense in that he’s a young player and you don’t want to completely discount him, though his sophomore year certainly diminished any shine on him.
But Rozier nearing 30, isn’t a part of Miami’s future and roughly 2/3rds of the time is playing minutes that directly contribute to Miami’s losing. So an aging Vet, keeps getting run, despite the team performing poorly when he’s on the court.
Miami is 11-21 when he has a negative +/-.
Spo keeps playing him. I get they have injuries. I get they have limited ball handlers. But these consistent extended minutes don’t make sense to me.
Totally agree.
Also agree. Don’t know why they not trying to tank and some celebrate here when they do……….its very puzzling
Yup. They can’t get rid of him quickly enough for me. Definitely a big mistake. At least he and a few others will be gone by summer 2026.
Yup, I’m on board with that too. I had pretty high hopes for how Rozier could have helped this team based on his history. It hasn’t worked out for sure. And spot on about the age difference between him and Jaquez.