GAME PREVIEW: Miami Heat look to get back on track in Toronto on first night of a back-to-back

Mar 28, 2023 - 2:10 PM

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Game Story:

The 40-35 and now 7th seed (again) Miami Heat will look to bounce back from Saturday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets with a matchup in Toronto. The Toronto Raptors are 37-38 and sitting in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, fighting for play-in positioning. They are coming off a win the other night in which OG Anunoby dropped a near 30 point performance on strong efficiency. This Raptors team is very deceiving… similar to Miami, they are much better than their record shows. They are a physical and long scrappy team that is well coached and can compete with anybody.

The core players in Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro need to do a better job at putting their imprints on this game offensively as a collective group. Herro was solid and efficient against Brooklyn last game, but both Butler and Adebayo were quiet scoring and shooting wise. Look for them to be more aggressive and look for their shot.

A key to picking up this win has to be containing the big names. Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet are all notable names that can get hot and fill it up very quickly on the offensive end. Not only does the defense need to be sharp and match the physicality, but the Heat need to do it for all 4 quarters.

In the last game against Brooklyn, Miami was unable to do so. They had hot shooting numbers and decent defense going to begin the game, just for it to slowly get out of hand to end the 2nd quarter. By the time halftime was over and the 3rd quarter started the Nets took all the momentum and ran with it.

The Heat need to be consistent throughout and not take their foot off the gas. This is a game tonight that could have multiple runs from each team, and Miami needs to answer those runs and keep going with the motions. It is a homecoming game for Toronto Raptors legend Kyle Lowry, who is listed as questionable again with knee soreness. Like always, he should be closer to a game-time decision.

He is the only question mark in the injury report for Miami. Cody Zeller, who has missed the last several games, is set to return from his broken nose. It is expected that he will immediately get his back up center minutes back.

This will be a pivotal matchup to get back in the winning column to keep up with both the Nets and New York Knicks in the standings. The guys need to be rejuvenated and ready to make a statement and start off this little 2 game road trip with a victory, especially on Max Strus’ Birthday! The sharpshooter turns 27 today and hopefully some birthday buckets will be coming later.

Tonight’s game will be nationally televised on TNT.

Injury Report:

Heat

• Kyle Lowry, questionable
• Orlando Robinson, out
• Nikola Jovic, out
• Jamal Cain, out

Raptors

• Gary Trent Jr., questionable
• Will Barton, doubtful
• Joe Wieskamp, doubtful
• Otto Porter Jr., out
• Dalano Banton, out

Probable Starters:

Heat

• Jimmy Butler
• Kevin Love
• Bam Adebayo
• Tyler Herro
• Gabe Vincent

Raptors

• OG Anunoby
• Pascal Siakam
• Jakob Poeltl
• Scottie Barnes
• Fred VanVleet

ODDS (via FanDuel)

Check the odds out at FanDuel!

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST

TV: TNT & 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)

Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!