GAME PREVIEW: Heat square off with Pistons in second leg of back to back

Mar 19, 2023 - 3:11 PM

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After an unfortunate loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, the Miami Heat continue their two-game road-trip with the Detroit Pistons in the second leg of their back-to-back on Sunday.

The Heat were unable to climb out of a 27-point second-half deficit against the Bulls, losing 113-99.

Chicago posted a 127.0 offensive rating in non-garbage time, which ranked in the 98th percentile, per Cleaning The Glass; Miami, who made only 10-of-37 from deep, scratched together a 108.9 offensive rating (32nd percentile).

Jimmy Butler (24 points) and Bam Adebayo (23 points) were the two main catalysts of its comeback attempt, trimming the once-27-point lead to three with 8:43 left. But Chicago’s 20-6 over the ensuing seven minutes delivered a knockout punch, handing Miami its 34th loss of the season.

Detroit, who’s in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, possessing the NBA’s worst record, has dropped two straight and 13 of its last 14 games — including a 119-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets Thursday evening.

Similarly to Miami on Saturday, the Pistons will have a significant rest advantage compared to their counterpart — though, as we already determined, that might not ultimately matter.

The Heat have lost five of their last six away from Miami-Dade Arena. They are two games back of the Brooklyn Nets and two ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 7 seed with only ten games to go.

INACTIVE/INJURIES:

MIAMI:

Not submitted at time of publishing.

DETROIT:

• Bojan Bogdanovic (achilles) — OUT
• Alec Burks (foot) — OUT
• Cade Cunningham (tibia) — OUT
• Hamidou Diallo (ankle) — OUT
• Isaiah Livers (hip) — QUESTIONABLE
• Isaiah Stewart (shoulder) — OUT

PROJECTED STARTING 5:

BROADCAST INFO:

Tipoff: 6:00 PM EST

TV: Bally Sports Sun, NBA League Pass

RADIO: WQAM 560 & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)

SPANISH RADIO: WAQI 710AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)

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