After a special evening that featured the Miami Heat’s greatest player of all-time’s statue unveiling, it is game day. Miami will host the visiting Detroit Pistons on a night where Dwyane Wade will be honored. The team aims to put together a standout performance on a legends night, unlike the devastating home opener when Pat Riley was celebrated.
It won’t come easy, regardless of the Pistons 0-3 record early on. They are coming off a game where they battled with the Boston Celtics to the very end. Cade Cunningham has been putting up All-Star numbers for Detroit, and they have the hungry youth that will be capable of stealing a win at any time.
The play of Cunningham will surely be on the Heat’s scouting report, along with their length in the frontcourt and big man depth. Look for Jimmy Butler to see opening minutes defending the Piston’s star. Butler is coming off an elite bounce back outing, recording 29 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists to secure the Heat’s first win of the 2024-25 season against the Charlotte Hornets.
Bam Adebayo has come out with a slow start on the offensive end this season, but still provides plenty of value outside of scoring. Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier have looked strong and efficient together thus far, so expect to see more of that trend to continue from the backcourt. Miami was able to get contributions from the supporting cast in Nikola Jovic and Alec Burks in their latest win, along with quality minutes from Duncan Robinson off the bench.
The Heat need to continue creating offense from their defense in order to earn back-to-back wins against the Pistons. They have shown active hands in the passing lanes leading to quality finishes in transition.
Tip off is set for 7:30 PM EST on the new FanDuel Sports Network Sun with Eric Reid and John Crotty.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Kevin Love (personal) — OUT
- Josh Christopher (two-way) — OUT
Detroit Pistons:
- Ausar Thompson (conditioning) — OUT
- Bobi Klintman (calf) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Nikola Jovic, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Detroit Pistons:
- Jaden Ivey, G
- Tim Hardaway Jr, G
- Cade Cunningham, F
- Tobias Harris, F
- Jalen Duren, 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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JRich playing?