GAME PREVIEW: Heat face top seed Cavs to open up the NBA Playoffs

After a thrilling win-out path in the play-in tournament, the 10th seed Miami Heat clinched a postseason berth. Their recent overtime drubbing of the Atlanta Hawks may have punched their ticket into the NBA playoffs, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

The Heat will immediately be tasked with upsetting the top seed Cleveland Cavaliers on the road to begin their seven-game first round series. The Cavs have a dominant 34-7 record at home, and finished the season 64-18 overall.

However, Miami handed Cleveland one of their rare losses earlier this season.

Additionally, the Heat are 6-4 over the Cavs in their last 10 matchups, and 12-8 over their last 20. They have shown an ability of beating this team, and may have arguably been awarded with the better matchup than the reigning champion Boston Celtics— who will now be on the opposite side of the bracket.

Each of the Heat starters should be able to at the very least hold their own against Cleveland’s lineup. The Bam Adebayo/Kel’el Ware frontcourt pairing will be put to the test against the size and strength of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

The biggest matchup with be between the two All-Star guards in Tyler Herro versus Donovan Mitchell.

Each player is their respective team’s leading scorer, and Herro is coming off his second straight 30+ point performance. Davion Mitchell is also going to look to carry his outstanding play-in efforts into the postseason, after coming up with huge clutch plays in Atlanta and submitting 16 points off the bench.

Can the Heat somehow steal one in Cleveland to takeover home-court advantage? Let us know in the comments!

Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):

Miami Heat:  

• Kevin Love (personal reasons) — OUT

Cleveland Cavaliers:

• NONE.

Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):

Miami Heat:

• Tyler Herro, G
• Alec Burks, G
• Andrew Wiggins, F
• Bam Adebayo, F/C
• Kel’el Ware, C

Cleveland Cavaliers:

• Darius Garland, G
• Donovan Mitchell , G
• Max Strus, F
• Evan Mobley, F
• Jarrett Allen, C

Broadcast Info:

• Tipoff: 7:00 PM EST
• TV: TNT, TruTV, Max & 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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