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GAME STORY
The Miami Heat (21-13) have a three-game win streak and hope to keep climbing up the standings with another victory when they host the Washington Wizards (17-16) tonight at the FTX Arena.
This will be another game against an opponent with several players missing due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Starting center Montrezl Harris became the seventh Wizards player to be ruled out this morning, with Bradley Beal the only player on the team currently listed as questionable to return tonight.
As a result, Miami has another golden opportunity to add another game to the win column as they themselves are slowly getting back to full strength. Jimmy Butler returned from a lengthy absence due to an injured tailbone and came back strong against the Orlando Magic in their victory on Sunday. Starting forward PJ Tucker is also nearing a return and is currently listed as questionable for tonight.
Miami is 11-4 at home while Washington has a 9-11 road record. The two teams split the first two head-to-head matchups this season, with the Heat winning the first game 112-97 at home on Nov. 18 and the Wizards coming right back to narrowly win 103-100 two days later in Washington DC.
ODDS: FiveThirtyEight gives the Heat a 76% chance to win the game.
HEAT VS WIZARDS: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28 AT 7:30 PM.
INJURIES
MIAMI:
- Victor Oladipo: out (knee; surgery rehab)
- Markieff Morris: out (whiplash)
- Dewayne Dedmon: out (knee)
- Bam Adebayo: out (thumb surgery recovery)
- Kyle Lowry: out (health and safety protocols)
- PJ Tucker: questionable (leg)
WASHINGTON:
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: out (health and safety protocols)
- Montrezl Harris: out (health and safety protocols)
- Anthony Gill: out (health and safety protocols)
- Raul Neto: out (health and safety protocols)
- Aaron Holiday: out (health and safety protocols)
- Bradley Beal: questionable (health and safety protocols)
- Thomas Bryant: out (left knee/health and safety protocols)
- Rui Hachimura: questionable (conditioning)
LINEUPS
Projected Starters
| Clippers | Position | Heat |
|---|---|---|
| Clippers | Position | Heat |
| Reggie Jackson | PG | Kyle Lowry |
| Paul George | SG | Tyler Herro |
| Kawhi Leonard | SF | Jimmy Butler |
| Marcus Morris Sr. | PF | Caleb Martin |
| Ivica Zubac | C | Bam Adebayo |
BROADCAST INFO
TV: Bally Sports Sun, NBA League Pass
RADIO: The Ticket 790AM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson, Ruth Riley Hunter)
SPANISH RADIO: WAQI 710AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda, Joe Pujala)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
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