An important Miami Heat return, one two-man pairing to watch for and other keys vs Magic
The Miami Heat playing in Orlando feels like a weekly thing at this point in the season. Following a season opener loss and close battle just four days ago, the Heat head right back up there for an in-season tournament match-up.
It appears Tyler Herro will be matching up with them for the first time this season after missing the first two games. Dru Smith is questionable for this one, while Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson, and Herro are listed as probable.
Franz Wagner is the big difference in this game, as he will miss some time due to a high ankle sprain that took place a game ago against the New York Knicks.
So let’s get into some keys on how Miami can change that 0-2 record vs Orlando:
1. One two-man pairing to watch for.
It’s time to fast-track. Tyler Herro and Norman Powell haven’t shared the floor for long this season, and it’s going to be an Erik Spoelstra priority to let these guys figure out chemistry stuff next to one another. Having them both healthy in Orlando allows them to be staggered and run their own lineups no doubt, but playing them next to each other is a necessity. Offense hasn’t been pretty in that building this season, and an easy jumpstart is forcing your two elite scorers to make the defense uneasy. Packing the paint with bigger lineups is tougher to do when Herro and Powell are occupying opposite wings, so look out for it tonight.
2. Davion Mitchell: you were missed.
It was only one game that Davion Mitchell missed, yet it felt like more. The impact of Mitchell somehow shines brighter when he wasn’t playing against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, and it’ll be a relief to get him back on Tuesday. His perimeter defense alone is going to be needed to slow down some of the Magic’s guard play, such as Jalen Suggs who had a big game against Miami this week and Desmond Bane who they don’t want to let find his flow. Defense aside, his offense was the true missing piece. Breaking down defenders one-on-one, generating paint touches, relief points at the rim. He’s crucial to this team’s success and he will be crucial in this NBA cup game.
3. One key defensive match-up.
The Heat have actually gone big in the two Magic games this season. They started Nikola Jovic in the season opener next to Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware next to him a few days ago. So could that mean a third front-court partner is coming tonight in three match-ups? I believe so. It seems the Heat will get back to the usual lineup of Mitchell, Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Adebayo in this one. What does that mean for the match-ups? Well, no more Adebayo on Magic star Paolo Banchero. Miami usually handles him defensively for that reason, but it seems Adebayo will be spending much more time on Wendell Carter Jr. Puts a lot of pressure on Andrew Wiggins to keep Banchero out of the paint, as without Wagner his shot attempts will increase most.
