This is the first of two straight match ups against Cleveland inside Miami-Dade Arena.

Game Story:

The 35-31 and 7th seed Miami Heat are set to welcome the 41-26 and 4th seed Cleveland Cavaliers to South Beach tonight. This will be the first of two straight matchups at home against Cleveland to conclude the 6 game home stand. The Heat are seeking their 3rd straight win and look to gain some more momentum after going 2-0 in their last set of two straight matchups with the Atlanta Hawks. The Cavs are coming off an impressive overtime win against the Boston Celtics, a game in which Donovan Mitchell dropped 40 points.

Containing the superstar abilities of Mitchell is no easy task, but the Heat need to find a way to slow him down. The last time these two teams played each other in Cleveland, the Heat did a relatively decent job at doing so with Mitchell. Which eventually led to a big road win. The defense needs to be sharp with rotations and Miami will look to replicate their 3 point success from the last game as well.

It will be interesting to see if Duncan Robinson continues getting playing time as he is coming off a great shooting night last game vs Atlanta. Robinson finished with 14 points and 3 three pointers. Look for players like Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo to be a bit more aggressive with scoring the ball. Especially Herro, who has really struggled with shooting efficiency ever since the new year.

It is a very small injury report for Miami, with Kevin Love being the only questionable player and Kyle Lowry still being listed as out. Love’s injury was not deemed to be serious, and he should be closer to a game-time decision. With the 5th seed New York Knicks losing last night, Miami is now currently 3.5 games behind them and 2.5 behind the 6th seed Brooklyn Nets. This will be a crucial stretch of games coming up as both the Nets and Knicks are in for some tough games themselves in the near future.

The Heat need to take advantage and really get a rhythm going. Securing their 3rd straight win against an Eastern Conference Contender like the Cavs would be a great start.

Injury Report:

Heat

• Kevin Love, questionable
• Kyle Lowry, out
• Nikola Jovic, out

Cavs

• Isaiah Mobley, out
• Dylan Windler, out
• Mamadi Diakite, out

Probable Starters:

Heat

• Jimmy Butler
• Kevin Love
• Bam Adebayo
• Tyler Herro
• Gabe Vincent

Cavs

• Isaac Okoro
• Evan Mobley
• Jarrett Allen
• Donovan Mitchell
• Darius Garland

ODDS (via FanDuel)

Check the odds out at FanDuel!

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 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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