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The Miami Heat saw their season-high seven-game win streak broke in their previous loss to the Orlando Magic. They dropped to a discouraging 0-5 versus their in-state rival on the year; allowing them to get even more control in the tight East standings.
Now Miami is back to the play-in seventh seed at a 38-30 overall record. However, they still remain just .5 games back of both the sixth and fifth seed. Now the focus will shift to getting a tough bounce back win in a road rematch with the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.
The Heat recently defeated the streaming Hornets in Charlotte, led by a near 30-point triple-double from Tyler Herro. With Norman Powell back in the fold after returning from a groin injury, the roles between Powell and Herro are still not solidified. Powell dropped 20 points in a bench role over the weekend in that Magic loss.
Andrew Wiggins will stay sidelined with his toe injury. Coach Erik Spoelstra had leaned back into the double-big starting lineup with Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware, but it’s unclear if that will be the lineup moving forward again as Miami continues having key pieces in and out of the rotation.
This matchup in Charlotte will be the first of three straight tough games against playoff contenders. They will face the LA Lakers and Houston Rockets following the Hornets, respectively.
Can they regain momentum and return to the win column?
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Charlotte Hornets:
- Tidjane Salaun (calf) — OUT
- PJ Hall (g-league) — OUT
- Liam McNeeley (g-league) — OUT
- Antonio Reeves (g-league) — OUT
- Tosan Evbuomwan (g-league) — OUT
Miami Heat:
- Andrew Wiggins (toe) — OUT
- Nikola Jovic (back) — PROBABLE
- Pelle Larsson (elbow) — PROBABLE
- Terry Rozier (not with team) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Charlotte Hornets:
- LaMelo Ball, G
- Brandon Miller, G
- Kon Knueppel, F
- Miles Bridges, F
- Moussa Diabate, C
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Pelle Larsson, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:00 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)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
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HFL would say, look at Keshod. Maybe Goldin should get time too.
Hey, I was possibly the first person last year saying we should get him on a regular contract when he was our 2-way player. And the thread is up buddy.
Fonzi came to play.
Thread is up 30
Keshod making his presence felt.
Active. As opposed to whoever is supposed to put up the game thread
Hey mods, the game started a while ago!
Sorry about that, it’s up!
This will be a desperate Hornets team buzzing around.,
Actually, Hornets have absolutely nothing to lose. They are locked in for a play-in spot and are 4.5 games out of 6th spot.
Your right. Hard to see them catching up, pretty locked in.
Big opportunity for Gardner with Wiggins and Bam out. Heat need his rebounding.
Play the best defenders – Davion, Jakucionas, Larsson, Jaquez – and add one of Herro Powell to that, could be the lineup to close
Once again, we are back to an absolute must win. We are now 4-1 in my 11 game analysis of who we are after hfl asked if I believed we could be competitive in the east. I know SM doesn’t like the idea of going 3-3 in these next 6 games, and certainly 4-2 would put us in a better position. But is an overall 7-4 in these 11 bad? No, but it will probably take more to secure the 6 spot. I feel we have to beat the Cavs at least 1 of the 2. And those 2 upcoming games after this stretch are growing more important by the minute.
we are agood team when players are used properly we are capable of beating anybody in the east.not western teams which are much better unless boston and tatum get on a run
I will give you my opinion after the next 6 games, which will complete the 11 game stretch I wanted to look closely at.
The other teams have been scratching out wins and aren’t going down easy.
That’s why I felt this stretch would define for me if this team really can compete in the playoffs or if I should just keep doing research and look forward to the draft.