GAME PREVIEW + GAMETHREAD: Heat host Mavericks as both teams fight for playoff positioning

Miami is looking to snap their 3 game losing skid; 0-1 against Dallas this season.

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Game Story:

The 40-37 Miami Heat will welcome Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the 37-40 Dallas Mavericks to South Beach this evening. Both teams have had their struggles as of late, as the Heat are losers of their last 3 games. They currently sit at the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, 2 full games behind the 6th seed Brooklyn Nets. As for the Mavs, they are on the outside looking in as the current 11th seed in the West. They are just .5 games behind the 10th and final play-in team in the OKC Thunder.

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang

No. 7 seed and play-in tourney became more likely for Heat tonight. With Nets win over Hawks, No. 7 Heat now 2 games behind No. 6 Nets and Brooklyn owns tiebreaker. No. 8 Hawks and No. 9 Raptors now two games behind Heat. Heat has 5 regular-season games left to play.

The Heat are 5-5 in their last 10 games and the Mavericks are 3-7 in their last 10. Although both teams have been on the wrong end of losing skids, the Mavs have been slightly worse. The arrival of Kyrie Irving has somehow made the team worse so far, and a roster that has championship aspirations on paper is now in a position where they are struggling to even make the top 10; risking their season ending before the play-in tournament even starts. With that in mind, the Mavs might come out with more of a hunger and desperation for this win.

Miami needs to match that desperation and grind out this win. Just because it seems they have locked in at the very least a play-in spot, doesn’t mean they should settle for that with a few games left. It’s still possible that this squad can make a push for 6th. Even if it gets out of reach in the near future, this team should still be trying to get into some slightest bit of momentum heading into the play-in with some wins down the stretch of the schedule.

Miami needs to slow down the superstar backcourt of Doncic and Irving, which is clearly much easier said than done. Look for coach Spoelstra to run some zone in attempt to close those seams with help defense being ready. Offensively, Jimmy Butler is due for a bounce back performance. Most of the role players are as well, but it starts with Butler being the leader and setting the tone.

Bam Adebayo will not be available due to a right hip contusion. Which could have played a factor into his recent inefficiency shooting wise. Other than that, besides the rookies, everybody should be ready to suit up including Kyle Lowry — though one change in the starting lineup is Cody Zeller instead of Kevin Love.

Miami HEAT @MiamiHEAT

First 5️⃣

Tonight’s game is nationally televised on NBA TV.

Injury Report (6:30pm ET UPDATE):

Heat

• Kyle Lowry, questionable available

• Bam Adebayo, out (Right Hip; Contusion)

• Orlando Robinson, out (G League - Two-Way)

• Nikola Jovic, out (Back spasms)

• Jamal Cain, out (G League - Two-Way)

Mavericks

• Frank Ntilikina, questionable out (Right Knee; Sprain)

Probable Starters:

Heat

• Jimmy Butler

• Max Strus

• Cody Zeller

• Tyler Herro

• Gabe Vincent

Mavericks

• Tim Hardaway Jr.

• Reggie Bullock

• Dwight Powell

• Kyrie Irving

• Luka Doncic

ODDS (via FanDuel)

Check the odds out at FanDuel!

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST

TV: NBA TV & 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)

This is our GAMETHREAD: Chat live about the game right here!