GAME PREVIEW: Heat look to bounce back against Cavs

The Miami Heat (44-23), on the first leg of a back-to-back, is seeking a bounce back performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-27) Friday at FTX Arena in their final matchup of the season.

Miami, who’s won 12 of its last 15, is looking to get Wednesday’s ugly taste out of their mouth — when they fell 111-90 to the Phoenix Suns, the best team in the NBA, snapping their four-game home win streak. Cleveland’s in the midst of a two-game win streak after losing six of seven. Their most recent win came on Tuesday in a tight 127-124 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The Heat have dropped to the Cavs in each of their first two meetings of the season, most recently 113-101 on Dec. 13. P.J. Tucker led the Heat with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting while Kyle Lowry followed with 22 points. The Heat were without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in both of those meetings.

Butler (illness) and Caleb Martin (hyperextended knee) are both questionable for Friday’s game, while Kyle Guy (two way), Javonte Smart (two way) and Markieff Morris (reconditioning) have all been ruled out. Butler also missed Wednesday’s game, but Martin got hurt midway through after 10 minutes of action, finishing with just two points on five shots.

Jarrett Allen (fractured finger), Caris LeVert (right foot sprain), Colin Sexton (meniscal tear) and Dylan Windler (G-League) are the only four players on the Cavs inactive list. All-Star guard Darius Garland has averaged 29.3 points and 11.5 assists on 51.2/43.8/90.5 shooting splits over his last four games since returning from a back injury.

ODDS:

• Heat -6.5
• O/U: 210
• Money line: Heat -265, Cavaliers +215

INACTIVE/INJURIES

MIAMI:

• Jimmy Butler (illness) - QUESTIONABLE
• Caleb Martin (hyperextended knee) - QUESTIONABLE
• Kyle Guy (two way) - OUT
• Javonte Smart (two way) - OUT
• Markieff Morris (reconditioning) - OUT

CLEVELAND:

• Jarrett Allen (fractured finger) - OUT
• Caris LeVert (right foot) - OUT
• Colin Sexton (meniscal tear) - OUT
• Dylan Windler (G-League assignment) - OUT

STARTING LINEUPS:

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)

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