Second night of a back to back on the road.
Game Story:
The now 32-28 Miami Heat head to Charlotte for the second night of a back to back against Lamelo Ball and the Hornets. Miami lost the last time these two teams met in Charlotte and are coming off an embarrassing blow out loss last night to the Giannis-less Bucks. Luckily, the Heat still stay as the 7th seed but are now 1.5 games behind the 6th seed New York Knicks and 2.5 behind the 5th seed Brooklyn Nets.
Lamelo Ball is coming off a 32 point near triple double last night and Gordon Hayward is coming off a near 30 point performance himself. This Hornets team is very sneaky good, their 18-43 record may not show that but they have talented players that are capable of going off any given night. Miami needs to sharpen their defense and put out a much better effort collectively if they want to bounce back.
The Heat must be able to improve their 3 point shooting from last night. They finished 5/21, good for 23.8%. That is a stat that will never get the job done in a league where 3 point shooting is so pivotal. If they are going to miss a bunch of 3’s, at least take more so that there’s a chance that percentage can go up. Give each other more opportunity for better looks behind that 3 point line.
Both injury reports have not been submitted yet, but it’s guaranteed that all 3 of Kyle Lowry, Omer Yurtseven and Nikola Jovic still will not be suiting up. Hopefully nobody else suffered a nagging injury that will affect their status from last night’s game. Which could be possible after how badly the team looked and performed. Tyler Herro was listed as probable yesterday initially with his knee that kept him out a few games before the all-star break.
Herro looked out of sync, injured, or maybe just both against the Bucks. His shooting efficiency has gone way down as the months go by, something that is pretty alarming and affecting the team in a negative way. He needs to get back on track and play like the Herro we all saw to start this season. Victor Oladipo should be another player to keep an eye on. He’s coming off an ankle injury himself and he was a complete non-factor yesterday.
Kevin Love has yet to make his first bucket as a member of the Heat. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have been more than solid, but if this team has any chance of going on a run and making a playoff push they need help from the supporting cast.
Injury Report:
Heat
- Omer Yurtseven, out
- Kyle Lowry, out
- Nikola Jovic, out
Hornets
- NOT YET SUBMITTED.
Probable Starters:
Heat
- Jimmy Butler
- Kevin Love
- Bam Adebayo
- Tyler Herro
- Gabe Vincent
Hornets
- Gordon Hayward
- PJ Washington
- Mark Williams
- Terry Rozier
- Lamelo Ball
ODDS (via FanDuel)
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Broadcast Info:
Tipoff: 7:00 PM EST
TV: Bally Sports 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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