In what will be viewed as a battle between two teams on the downslope, the Miami Heat continue their five-game homestand against the Charlotte Hornets Sunday at 6:00 p.m. EST inside Kaseya Center.
Losers of 10 straight for the first time in nearly two decades, the Heat are spiraling. They have blown five double-digit leads over that span while seven of those 10 losses have come inside their own building.
Friday’s 102-98 loss to the Houston Rockets–despite strong performances from Andrew Wiggins and first-round rookie Kel’el Ware–was another episode to the depressing re-runs we’ve been watching for the last month. Miami was outscored 51-39 in the second half after owning an 11-point lead. For more on that recap, click here!
Currently 12 games below .500 at 29-41, Miami has the 8th-best lottery odds, five games back of the Raptors for the 7th-best odds, and 1.5 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, who bested the Los Angeles Lakers 146-115 on Saturday. If that held true, they would have as good of a chance to earn the No. 9 pick (32.1 percent) as the No. 8 pick (34.5 percent), but would have roughly a 26 percent chance at a top-4 pick as opposed to a 7.2 percent chance at picks 10-12.
The Hornets aren’t in any sort of favorable position, either. While they are 4-4 over their last eight–including a 105-102 win inside Kaseya on March 10–they are on track to win 21 games for the second consecutive year. The Hornets have not won more than 27 games since the 2021-22 season and have finished with 27 or fewer wins in four of their last six seasons.
The Hornets overcame a 17-point deficit to the Heat 13 days ago. Will history repeat itself Sunday?
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Bam Adebayo (knee) — QUESTIONABLE
- Josh Christopher (G-League) — OUT
- Tyler Herro (hip) — QUESTIONABLE
- Keshad Johnson (G-League) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (G-League) — OUT
Charlotte Hornets:
- Damion Baugh (G-League) — OUT
- Josh Green (shoulder) — QUESTIONABLE
- Tre Mann (Herniated Disc) — OUT
- Brandon Miller (wrist) — OUT
- Josh Okogie (hamstring) — OUT
- Tidjane Saluan (ankle) — PROBABLE
- Grant Williams (ACL)) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Duncan Robinson, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Charlotte Hornets:
- LaMelo Ball, G
- Josh Green, G
- Miles Bridges, F
- DaQuan Jeffries, F
- Jusuf Nurkic, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 6:00 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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Can we beat at least Charlotte? I’m gonna watch to find out.
Jimmy Butler views return to Miami as “another game’(Yardbarker, March 23, 2025)
“Yeah, it [Time with the Miami Heat] didn’t end the way that people wanted to, yada yada yada. We were alright. We didn’t win nothing like we were supposed to. So I don’t know. We made some cool runs. We had some fun. I think that’s all we did.”
“Not really, don’t make no difference,” Butler responded when asked if he has any concerns about how fans will react. “I’m a member of the Golden State Warriors. I love that fan base. They showed me a lot of love while I was there. But I’m there to win now. I’m on the opposing team.”
~ Jimmy Butler ~ (March 23, 2025)
So Jimmy, you say you loved the fanbase. I can understand you having issues with Riley and maybe even Spo, but what did your teammates or the fan base ever do to you? You showed what they meant to you when you quit on them.
Do you remember this quote?:
“If we’re being brutally honest, nothing I do now is going to get me paid anymore money. Even though I don’t care about the money. All-NBA, dah, dah, dah, dah, none of that is going to matter. I’m at a point right now that I got more than enough money. I’m just here to win.”
~ Jimmy Butler ~ (October 12, 2024)
For someone who professes not to be concerned about money, you sure did make it a central issue for quitting on the Miami fans and your teammates. As you had done at your previous stops in the NBA, you clearly demonstrated to Miami players, fans and everyone else that you are a selfish, greedy, egotistical asshole. You’re been a cancer wherever you’ve played. I’m glad we are rid of you.
I agree with you 100% on Jimmy. He’s definitely shown he doesn’t give a damn about Heat fans. And that’s exactly how we should treat him.
He’s still a very good player, not nearly as good and dominant as he used to be, but still pretty good. But I don’t think it will be enough to help Golden State win it all. Their 3 most important players are all over 35 and the young guys not good enough (yet?). But I can understand why they traded for him. It’s worth for them to give Steph another chance and Jimmy was the best they could get after KD. And obviously the trade has made them much better.
Anyway, we have got our own issues to deal with, no need to concern ourselves with Jimmy’s. Jimmy’s era with the Heat was fun, but it’s over now.