Heat looking to end West Coast trip with winning record vs Jazz

The Miami Heat’s five-game West Coast trip may not have went perfect, but they can still end it with a 3-2 record in their final matchup against the Utah Jazz.

Utah, similar to the Heat’s previous opponent in the Sacramento Kings, have been at the bottom of the Western Conference standings so far this season. The Jazz will go into the night at 1-9 overall— tied for the worst record in the entire league. These types of matchups present great opportunities for Miami to continue building some cohesion following a slow start with this revamped roster.

Miami’s defensive effort looked better in the last game, and may have been spearheaded by the insertion of Pelle Larsson with the starters. Andrew Wiggins still received minutes in the second unit, but didn’t make much of an impact once again.

If the Heat can get the job done tonight, they will improve to 5-2 over their last seven games following their 0-4 start.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been dealing with a sore wrist after a hard fall on a drive to the rim a few games back, and has re-appeared back on the injury report as probable. For Utah, they are banged up with several notable key players set to be sidelined due to injury— including Jaren Jackson Jr, Keynote George, Jusuf Nurkic and then Lauri Markkanen who’s listed as questionable.

Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):

Miami Heat:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (wrist) — PROBABLE

Utah Jazz:

Lauri Markkanen (wrist) — QUESTIONABLE
Keyonte George (ankle) — OUT
Jaren Jackson Jr (MCL) — OUT
Jusuf Nurkic (wrist) — OUT
Trey Alexander (g-league) — OUT
Kobe Bufkin (g-league) — OUT
Harisson Ingram (g-league) — OUT

Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):

Miami Heat:

Davion Mitchell, G
Klay Thompson, G
Pelle Larsson, F
Giannis Antetokounmpo, F
Bam Adebayo, C

Utah Jazz:

Darryn Peterson, G
Isaiah Collier, G
Ace Bailey, F
Josh Green, F
Lauri Markkanen, 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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