Miami has won 3 out of their last 4 games.
Game Story:
The 39-34 Miami Heat are in for a huge matchup tonight against the New York Knicks. Miami is 3 games behind the 5th seeded Knicks, and a win tonight could not only tighten that margin to 2 games, but also be tied in the standings with the 6th seeded Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn does indeed own the tiebreaker against Miami, so more work would still have to be done. Nonetheless though, the Heat would be on the verge of leap frogging the Nets and being in position to avoid the play-in tournament.
Both the Knicks and Heat have gone 6-4 over their last 10 games and are doing relatively well as of late. The Heat especially have won 3 of their last 4. However, the Knicks have an impressive road record of 22-14 this season. So although the Heat have home court advantage for tonight’s matchup, the Knicks are no fluke in stealing a road win. In fact, Miami lost to this same Knicks team at home off the back of a Julius Randle game winner just a few weeks ago.
Miami has to do a better job defensively on Randle to gut out this win. The addition of Kevin Love and bulking up that front court since the last time these teams met could be a difference maker. Having two big bodies in Love and Bam Adebayo to size up against Randle and Mitchell Robinson as opposed to an undersized Caleb Martin throws a different dynamic defensively at New York.
As for injuries, Cody Zeller is still out with his nasal fracture. Expect Omer Yurtseven and/or Haywood Highsmith to pick up some minutes in relief of Adebayo once again. Kyle Lowry and Martin are also both listed as questionable with knee soreness. Considering how big of a game this is for the playoff race, I would assume at least one of the two will be playing. These are 2 valuable rotation pieces to what this Heat team can do.
However, both players will likely be closer to a game-time decision.
Injury Report:
Heat
- Kyle Lowry, questionable
- Caleb Martin, questionable
- Cody Zeller, out
Knicks
- Trevor Keels, out
- Duane Washington Jr., out
Probable Starters:
Heat
- Jimmy Butler
- Kevin Love
- Bam Adebayo
- Tyler Herro
- Gabe Vincent
Knicks
- RJ Barrett
- Julius Randle
- Mitchell Robinson
- Jalen Brunson
- Quentin Grimes
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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