Miami has won 5 of their last 7 games.
Game Story:
The 38-33 Miami Heat are back on the road for a matchup in Chicago against the struggling Bulls. Each game is getting more and more important during this final regular season stretch, as Miami is just 1.5 games behind the 6th seeded Brooklyn Nets. They are also 3 games behind the 5th seeded New York Knicks. It’s pivotal that Miami can pick up wins right now against teams like the Bulls who have underperformed this year to sneak into the top 6 and avoid the play-in tournament.
There is a lot of room for optimism regarding this Miami Heat team as of late. They have won 5 of their last 7 and most importantly the shooters are starting to come around. The Heat have statistically been one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the entire NBA all season long. However, over the last 8 games Miami holds the leagues SECOND best 3P% at 40.9%. Guys like Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Caleb Martin are all contributing in that area. Jimmy Butler, as he often does before playoffs, is also attempting and knocking down more triples himself.
Bam Adebayo is coming off a monster game where he validated his All-Star status once again.
Miami’s core three of Butler, Adebayo and Tyler Herro combined for 73 points in the last win against the Grizzlies.
Kyle Lowry is another guy who has looked encouraging in a now bench role since coming back from his knee injury. In the 3 games that he has been back, he’s shot 7/13 from 3, good for 54%. We all know Lowry as “QB1”, but he has been orchestrating the offense as good as ever being the back up PG. Having a veteran presence of his caliber leading the second unit could be a game changer.
It’s unknown yet if this bench role will be continuing longterm and into the playoffs or not, but just the fact that Lowry is showing signs of life could wind up being a much needed spark for this squad.
Let’s see if Miami can continue their recent success as of late.
Injury Report:
Heat
- Kyle Lowry, questionable
- Cody Zeller, out
- Jamal Cain, out
- Orlando Robinson, out
- Nikola Jovic, out
Bulls
- NOT YET SUBMITTED.
Probable Starters:
Heat
- Jimmy Butler
- Kevin Love
- Bam Adebayo
- Tyler Herro
- Gabe Vincent
Bulls
- Alex Caruso
- Demar Derozen
- Nikola Vucevic
- Zach Lavine
- Patrick Beverley
ODDS (via FanDuel)
Check the odds out at FanDuel!
Broadcast Info:
Tipoff: 8:00 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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