The Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets duke it out in a battle of two hot teams out East. Miami won the first meeting two weeks ago, 109-105, and hopes to have a repeat performance.
Catch the game tomorrow at 8:30 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: Brooklyn Nets (6-5, 3-2 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- Spencer Dinwiddie
- Cam Johnson
- Mikal Bridges
- Royce O’Neale
- Dorian Finney-Smith
The Nets are in for a challenge, but they themselves are building something. They head to the game as winners in three of their last four games, with the most recent being a one-sided 124-104, victory over the Orlando Magic, where they went 19-of-39 from beyond the arc.
The bench that shined more than the starters in the aforementioned loss to the Heat, led by Lonnie Walker and Armoni Brooks having 17 points apiece. Mikal Bridges had 21 points and five assists, but was a so-so 7-of-16 from the field and was only -14. Top scorer Cam Thomas, who’s sidelined and won’t be available tomorrow, went 4-of-19. Hopefully, Bridges (20.3 PPG) will be better tomorrow, especially since he’s been underwhelming thus far.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, and Dorian Finney-Smith will be aiding Bridges out, especially Johnson, who has 14.3 PPG and will be in his fifth game back from injury.
Brooklyn scores 114.2 PPG while allowing 112.5 per game.
HOME: Miami Heat (7-4, 3-1 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- Kyle Lowry
- Duncan Robinson
- Jimmy Butler
- Haywood Highsmith
- Bam Adebayo
The Heat are… well, hot. After a four-game skid earlier in the season, the men from South Beach have stitched together six consecutive wins. They are averaging 113.8 PPG in that stretch, and that’s with one of their leading scorers, Tyler Herro, out for the last three games.
Having said that, with us full knowing that the Heat aren’t a strong offensive team, there’s still a window of doubt every time because you just don’t know which group is going to show up. Take Jimmy Butler, for example: while he had 32 masterful points on 10-of-14 shooting in their previous outing, five of his nine games on the season featured him shooting 38.5% or worse.
The good as of late, however–aside from the ever-consistent Bam Adebayo–is the play of Duncan Robinson and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. The former has 44 points and eight threes over his last two, while the latter has 16.0 PPG in his last three. They are stepping up nicely while Herro is unavailable.
The Heat are scoring 109.6 but allow 109.8 per game.
PREDICTION:
Handicap: The Heat (-4.5) fail to cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total goes under 217.
