As part of this brutal beginning stretch on the Miami Heat’s 2025-26 schedule, they will face yet another difficult challenge against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
It will be the first of a two-game homestand set versus the 7-3 and second seeded Cavs for Miami. The Heat, going into the matchup sporting a 6-4 record following two consecutive wins, will be without their two All-Star’s in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro due to injury. Miami is one of three Eastern Conference teams to remain undefeated at home this season, and will attempt to keep that notion the same against an East contender. In a trending social media fun fact, the Heat have reached the NBA Finals the last two times they opened a season 4-0 at home.
Pelle Larsson will continue to get the starting nod with Adebayo’s absence. The Heat’s lack of big man depth has limited them to only being able to go small now within their first unit. However, Larsson is coming off another productive 15+ scoring outing versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. He has been super impactful in his role thus far, and is making a legitimate case to remain in Miami’s rotation longer term.
Nikola Jovic will look to build off his career-high 29 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists outing— hoping to keep stacking up strong performances after a shaky start to his season. Additionally, Norman Powell is likely to keep getting the green light offensively, as the veteran scorer is coming off an efficient 22-point statline himself. He has dropped 20+ points in six of his seven games as a new member of the Heat so far this year.
Tonight will be the first Heat/Cavs matchup since Miami was swept out of the 2024 postseason by Cleveland just a few months ago. Can the undermanned Heat pull off another statement win?
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Dru Smith (knee) — PROBABLE
- Tyler Herro (ankle) — OUT
- Bam Adebayo (toe) — OUT
- Terry Rozier (not with team) — OUT
- Myron Gardner (g-league) — OUT
- Jahmir Young (g-league) — OUT
Cleveland Cavaliers:
- Larry Nance Jr. (knee) — QUESTIONABLE
- Max Strus (foot) — OUT
- Chris Livingston (g-league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Norman Powell, G
- Pelle Larsson, G/F
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Kel’el Ware, C
Cleveland Cavaliers:
- Darius Garland, G
- Donovan Mitchell, G
- Deandre Hunter, F
- Evan Mobley, F
- Jarrett Allen, 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)
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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It will be interesting to see how we will do without our 2 best players against Cleveland. 3 players missing tonight’s game are exactly 50 % of the Heat’s payroll this season. Ware is GTD, I didn’t know he was injured. In case he misses tonight’s game, we will have to ride it with Vlad and Niko as centers? Against the frontcourt of Allen and Mobley…
This is a brutal 10 game stretch. There’s only one team below .500 on that list. We said we can somehow evaluate this team after 20…but health concerns and this tough sked now makes it more challenging 😳🤯
This is a clear step up from the decent teams we recently played. It is also a team whose strength, like the last team we lost to, is height and the front line. If we had Bam we would have a chance as our run and gun tactic has made us more formidable for everyone. Without Bam it’s going to be tough.
I demand revenge for last year humiliation.
If the Heat can run & gun up to their potential, it should be an entertaining game.
This is the way for right now. We’re not going to body up Allen and Mobley with Vlad. Might as well make them run and see who’s left breathing properly.