Game Preview: Heat take on the Hawks as Whiteside, Schröder, Ilyasova are out

The Miami Heat look to have their first winning streak of the young season, as they host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday at AA Arena. This will be the second game of a back-to-back for the Hawks, who start out the season with five straight road games. Dennis Schröder went down with an ankle injury in Atlanta’s loss against the Brooklyn Nets and will miss the game, as will Heat nemesis Ersan Ilyasova with a left knee strain.

INJURY UPDATE:

[Miles] Plumlee [strained right quad]: Out
[DeAndre’] Bembry [fractured wrist]: Out
[Ersan] Ilyasova (left knee strain): Out
[Dennis] Schröder (sprained left ankle): Out

Over the summer Atlanta lost Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap, but signed former Heat starter Luke Babbitt, who ironically could be making his Miami debut as a starter for the Hawks in place of the injured Ilyasova (Muscala or John Collins are more likely).

The surprise start for Jordan Mickey and a win for Miami fuels speculation whether Erik Spoelstra will keep the same starting five in the absence of Hassan Whiteside, or whether he has another trick up his sleeve, such as Matt Williams. James Johnson’s 1 for 7, Wayne Ellington’s 2 for 10, Dion Waiters’ 3 for 12, Tyler Johnson’s 2 for 7 from downtown are worse than Justise Winslow’s 1 for 2 this season. Spoelstra might test Williams’ range during his 45-day NBA trial period to improve the results from Miami’s spray-and-pay approach.

Spo vowed to work on Miami's defense after surrendering over 100 points in the first two games against projected lottery teams. Perhaps time together will iron out the kinks in the Heat’s defensive armor as the season goes on.

The next three games after the Hawk's won’t be easy ones: the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves. In a way the late collapse against the Indiana Pacers will keep Miami on their toes to prevent it from happening again.

ODDS SHARK

Odds Shark prediction models pick the Heat to win this game 116-102.

This game pits the Miami Heat, currently No. 8 in the Odds Shark NBA Power Rankings, against the Atlanta Hawks, who rate No. 22 in the most recent survey update.

GAME NOTES

• Goran Dragic has scored in double figures for 48 consecutive games
• Heat are second in field goal attempts per game, 94.5
• Also second in field goals made per game, 44.5
• Miami Heat has sold out 336 consecutive games, 10th longest streak in NBA history
• Man who took over Erik Spoelstra’s job as video coordinator: “Tonight is a friendly homecoming of sorts for Hawks GM Travis Schlenk. He took over as video coordinator for the @MiamiHeat in 1999 when current Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was promoted from that job to a position as an advance scout.”

DATE: October 23, 2017

TIME: 7:30 PM EST

WHERE: American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL

TV: FOX SunSports (Eric Reid, Tony Fiorentino, Jason Jackson)

RADIO: The Ticket 790 AM, 106.3 FM (Mike Inglis, John Crotty)

SPANISH RADIO: WAQI 710AM (José Pañeda, Joe Pujala)

PROBABLE STARTERS:

Miami — Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, James Johnson, Jordan Mickey

Atlanta — Malcolm Delaney, Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince, Mike Muscala, Dewayne Dedmon