The Miami Heat will be aiming to get back into the win column against the Luka Donic-led LA Lakers to continue their road trip.
(Photo via Imagn Images)
The Miami Heat’s three-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday night against the rising San Antonio Spurs to open up a four-game road trip. Now the focus will shift to securing a bounce back win against another difficult foe in the LA Lakers.
LA has yet to see LeBron James take the floor this year, as the future Hall of Famer has been sidelined with a sciatica injury and isn’t expected to make his season debut until mid-to-late November. However, their newest franchise superstar in Luka Doncic has led the way in keeping things afloat for the 4-2 Lakers. Doncic is coming off a dominant 42/12/6 statline in the Lakers’ most recent win against the Memphis Grizzlies.
It will likely be a defensive matchup for the Heat that sees multiple different defenders attempt to contain Doncic— including Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins and maybe even Bam Adebayo. Norman Powell, who is currently listed as questionable heading into Sunday’s game, would be another respectable option to throw at Doncic.
Powell’s status will be crucial, as the veteran scorer has missed the previous two games for Miami due to groin soreness suffered at a recent morning shoot around. Of course, Miami is still without their All-Star combo guard in Tyler Herro— making Powell’s sudden injury that much more difficult to handle. Adebayo and Wiggins have helped make up for the loss of offense between the backcourt in the last couple of games. Adebayo is coming off a 31 points and 10 rebounds double-double in the Heat’s last loss to the Spurs.
Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic were two expected X-factors for Miami this season that have continued to come out to a slow start offensively thus far. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has emerged in Miami’s rotation early on, but had a rough outing himself in San Antonio on Thursday. An underrated piece to coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation has truly been the newly acquired Simone Fontecchio. The Italian national team forward is currently leading the league in 3-point percentage at a sizzling 60%.
Do you think the Heat can bounce back and get back into the win column tonight? Let us know in the comments!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Norman Powell (groin) — QUESTIONABLE
- Tyler Herro (foot) — OUT
- Kasparas Jakucionis (groin) — OUT
- Terry Rozier (not with team) — OUT
- Vlad Goldin (g-league) — OUT
LA Lakers:
- Deandre Ayton (back) — PROBABLE
- LeBron James (sciatica) — OUT
- Gabe Vincent (ankle) — OUT
- Thiero Adou (knee) — OUT
- Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Norman Powell, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
LA Lakers:
- Luka Doncic, G
- Austin Reaves, G
- Marcus Smart, F
- Rui Hachimura, F
- Deandre Ayton, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 9:30 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)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
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