The Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets will meet again days after these two teams put up an entertaining battle at Barclays Center.
Will Miami avoid a three-game skid? Or, will Brooklyn double down on their mastery of the Heat?
Catch this game live on Tuesday, January 26, at 8:30 AM, Manila time
HOME TEAM: Brooklyn Nets (10-8, 8-4 at home)
Kyrie Irving can be pretty enigmatic off the court, but there’s no mystery about him when he’s on the hardwood. Irving balled out on Sunday and saved Brooklyn from suffering a third consecutive loss by scoring 18 of his 29 points in the final quarter during a 128-124 win over the Heat.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 31 points, while Joe Harris got 23 points on the strength of seven 3-pointers. James Harden showed his willingness to take the backseat to Durant and Irving by taking only eight shots on his way to only 12 points, though he did have seven rebounds and 11 assists. It’s that acceptance of a minimized role for Harden that will make Brooklyn an even more dangerous offensive team.
If the Nets aren’t going to solve their defensive woes anytime soon, at least they can always overpower opponents with an offensive onslaught. Over their last five games, the Nets have averaged 124.6 points on 50.8 percent shooting from the field.
The Heat can’t survive in a shootout with Brooklyn, especially without Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro, who are both not playing this Tuesday.
The total has hit the over in all of Brooklyn’s last eight home games.
ROAD TEAM: Miami Heat (6-9, 2-6 on the road)
With a banged-up roster on the road against one of the favorites to win the NBA title this year, the Heat relied on Bam Adebayo to carry them.
Adebayo exploded for 41 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field to go with five rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes. Adebayo certainly found lots of holes in Brooklyn’s Swiss cheese defense that continues to falter.
It appears that the Nets are still unable to solve their defensive problems, especially on pick-and-rolls, as Goran Dragic and Miami’s guards repeatedly got Brooklyn with sweet two-man games involving Adebayo. Look for that to continue this Tuesday.
Miami shot just 28.3 percent from deep against Brooklyn, hitting 13 of 46 3-point attempts. That’s not going to stop Miami from launching long-range shots. Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic will continue to keep the Nets’ defense honest regardless of how bad they shot last Sunday.
Robinson and Gragic combined for a 3-of-17 3-point shooting line in the loss to the Nets.
Miami is 3-2 against the spread in its last five games away from South Beach.
PREDICTIONS:
It’s going to be the same story as last Sunday’s game between these two teams. Durant, Irving, and Harden plus Joe Harris will take their turns on offense and cover lapses on defense with their scoring. Brooklyn wins this game, 123-116.
