After a thrilling Miami Heat victory that broke their losing streak and upset the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team will look to keep it going on the road against the Detroit Pistons. It will be their NBA cup opener tonight, as the matchup is part of the East Group B tournament, which also includes the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Toronto Raptors.
Miami is sitting at the seventh seed in the East with a 4-5 record, aiming to get back to the .500 mark and pick up their second straight win. There were plenty of positives that the team could build on heading into tonight’s game, particularly on the defensive side. The Heat upped their intensity and got crucial stops down the stretch against the Wolves.
Led by Tyler Herro’s 26 points, the team had enough offense without the services of Jimmy Butler to get the job done against a contender. It will be interesting to see if Kevin Love remains in coach Erik Spoelstra’s starting unit, who was impactful in his limited minutes. The lineup change moved Nikola Jovic to the bench, but played very well as a point forward in the second unit.
Herro has been the catalyst in keeping Miami afloat amid struggles to the rest of the core. When asked about his offense, Spoelstra told the media: “he’s becoming so efficient. 15 shots and he scores 26 points, that’s what we’ve always talked about. I was really pleased with his playmaking and his scoring.”
On the Pistons side, containing Cade Cunningham could pose a big task to the Heat’s backcourt. Expect Haywood Highsmith to receive some minutes against him to start the game, similarly to Anthony Edwards in the prior matchup. While being guarded by Highsmith on Sunday, he suit just 3/9 from the field (33.3%) and committed 4 turnovers, the most against an individual defender all year.
Outside of Cunningham, the Pistons play a very physical game with rebounding activity on the glass. Look for Bam Adebayo to take advantage of that and get some good looks going inside the paint.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Jimmy Butler (ankle) — OUT
- Josh Christopher (g-league) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (g-league) — OUT
Detroit Pistons:
- Jalen Duren (ankle) — Questionable
- Isaiah Stewart (ankle) — Probable
- Cole Swider (g-league) — Questionable
- Bobi Klintman (calf) — OUT
- Ausar Thompson (conditioning) — OUT
- Daniss Jenkins (g-league) — OUT
- Alondes Williams (g-league) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Kevin Love, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Detroit Pistons:
- Cade Cunningham, G
- Jaden Ivey, G
- Tim Hardaway Jr, F/G
- Tobias Harris, F
- Isaiah Stewart, 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)
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
Heat is in the easiest group. Not a winning team in the bunch.
This is a must win. But it wont be easy. Detroit is not a bad team anymore.