The Miami Heat will begin a two-game opportunity to conclude their West Coast trip against some very winnable matchups, starting with the 1-8 Sacramento Kings.
Miami’s early-season inconsistency continued after a poor second-half showing in their previous loss to the Golden State Warriors. They are currently at a 3-6 record, their worst start to the season since the 2016-17 campaign. The surprising part is that more of the Heat’s struggles have been defensively, despite the expectations of pairing All-Defensive caliber stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo to anchor that end of the floor.
When it comes to offensively, Antetokounmpo and Adebayo have done their share in recent games— along with a much needed leap from Davion Mitchell. However, Klay Thompson has shown he can be streaky, and Andrew Wiggins has been a complete non-factor on both ends of the floor. The bench depth has been shaky, and there has been some chatter of coach Erik Spoelstra potentially making a rotation change.
Pelle Larsson is a rumored candidate that can take Wiggins spot in the first unit. Over the last three games, Wiggins has averaged 4 points on nearly 20% shooting while being a defensive liability at the wing position.
Miami will hope to contain Kings rookie sensation Darius Acuff Jr, who is averaging 25.2 points and 7.1 assists as their starting point guard. Domantas Sabonis has also remained a triple-double threat for Sacramento this season, as each Antetokounmpo and Adebayo will likely see most of those defensive assignments in the frontcourt matchup.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Tre Donaldson (g-league) — OUT
- Vlad Goldin (g-league) — OUT
Sacramento Kings:
- Keegan Murray (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE
- Ben Simmons (achilles) — OUT
- Maxime Raynaud (patella) — OUT
- Sean Pedulla (g-league) — OUT
- Jonathan Mogbo (g-league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Klay Thompson, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Sacramento Kings:
- Darius Acuff Jr, G
- Zach LaVine, G
- Leaky Black, F
- Precious Achiuwa, F
- Domantas Sabonis, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 9:00 PM EST
- TV: WPLG Local 10 (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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Should win wouldn’t be surprised with a loss cause this team lets no names look like mj Steph and LeBron combined. But it is what it is.
Playing against a young talent I like in acuff will be a star in this league (can say whatever you want about him, he was drafted by the kings that alone gives him a pass in my book) But that’s something we don’t do here yall know a young up and coming player to feel excited about because ‘Culture’