The Miami Heat put together a strong team-wide performance in their latest win against the Indiana Pacers, improving to 5-6 on the season. Headlined by Bam Adebayo’s 30/11/7 double-double, the team played to their identity with elite defense turning into easy offense. Today will be the second consecutive matchup against the Pacers as Miami could end their road trip with a 3-3 record.
The biggest storyline of this game has been around the status of Jimmy Butler. He has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury, and is now set to missed his fifth. Butler was originally upgraded to questionable on Saturday afternoon, paving a way for the star to make his return. However, he was then downgraded again to OUT, as of this morning.
Aside from Butler, the rest of the rotation is expected to be available. The Heat could run the same schemes that led to their win on Friday night against the struggling Pacers again, who fell to a 5-7 record after their loss.
Miami stayed competitive on the glass, looked strong defensively and kept control of the basketball, which proved to be the recipe for their win. Look for a few of the supporting cast to provide a spark and supplement Adebayo and Tyler Herro once again. It was Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith and Nikola Jovic in the last game, as masked Jovic is finding a perfect role as the point foward for the second unit.
The Pacers frontcourt in Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner were pedestrian offensively, so that duo could aim to come out more aggressive in today’s matchup. A win for the Heat could have them tied for the East’s fourth seed and secure back-to-back victories for just the second time this season.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Jimmy Butler (ankle) — OUT
- Josh Christopher (g-league) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (g-league) — OUT
Indiana Pacers:
- Andrew Nembhard (knee) — OUT
- Aaron Nesmith (ankle) — OUT
- Isaiah Jackson (achilles) — OUT
- James Wiseman (achilles) — OUT
- Tristen Newton (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
Indiana Pacers:
- Tyrese Haliburton, G
- Bennedict Mathurin, G
- Ben Sheppard, F
- Pascal Siakam, F
- Myles Turner, 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)
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Butler will NOT be available for today’s game. Is he that injured or is Spo and company taking a longer look to see if the team continues to play well without him?
It seems to me that the Heat has played at least as well or better without Butler as with him. This is as I, and several others, expected.