Miami Heat at Orlando Magic (front end)
Team Totals: Heat 106, Magic 99
Injury Report: Cole Anthony (Q, ankle), Mo Bamba (Q, ankle), Ignas Bradzekis (O, protocols), Gary Harris (Q, hamstring), Jimmy Butler (O, tailbone), Tyler Herro (Q, quad), Markieff Morris (O, whiplash), Omer Yurtseven (Q, back), Moe Wagner (O, protocls), Terrence Ross (O, protocols), R.J. Hampton (O, protocols)
Magic projected starters: Mychal Mulder, Franz Wagner, Chuma Okeke, Wendell Carter Jr., Mo Bamba
Heat projected starters: Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker, Dewayne Dedmon
Mosley quotes: Said he was pleased with how the guys stepped up, said Gary Harris had tightness in his hammy and they ruled him out, said Moe Wagner was “fantastic” and continues to bring a ton of energy for them, said Chuma Okeke has been able to stay ready and he was prepared for his start.
Spoelstra quotes: Said he can’t say enough about how well Gabe Vincent played in Philly, said KZ Okpala gave them great minutes off the bench, said they went to the zone against Embiid and he really just goes off feeling on when to use it.
Stats and Notes:
Well, the headline for this game is if it can even be played, with so many Orlando guys now out.
*The Miami defense has some different players in there, but they’re still just getting lit up from deep with 42.7% of the opponent’s FGAs coming from behind the long line this month. The Heat are slightly below average on defense since Thanksgiving, so maybe the Magic can score today. On the other side of things, the Magic are continuing to get smoked on defense, allowing a league-worst 103.7 halfcourt D rating since Thanksgiving. They’re 26th overall because they’re excellent at limiting putbacks with their size.
*The Magic just can’t contain perimeter players, so all of the Heat guards are in play here. It’s a smash spot for Kyle Lowry, who isn’t in a B2B and just played 39 minutes against the 76ers on Wednesday. He’ll have the ball in his hands a ton, and he finally gets a favorable spot after so many bad matchups this month (76ers, Cavs, Bulls, Bucks twice, new Grizzlies). KLOE.
*If Tyler Herro can’t go, it obviously sets up well for Gabe Vincent again. He’ll be looking at 35ish minutes again, and he’ll be getting easy shots all night, especially when he’s staggered from Lowry. Herro would also be an interesting play if he can go. He did not go through shootaround, so it’s not looking good for Herro.
*Well, the Magic are screwed. Right now, they only have eight guys available: Cole Anthony, Mychal Mulder, Gary Harris, Franz Wagner, Chuma Okeke, Wendell Carter Jr., Mo Bamba, and Robin Lopez. If one of Cole, Harris, and Mo can’t go, this game is off. Although, one of them might just be “available” to get this game going with a seven-man rotation. BIG YIKES!
*If Cole can’t go, that sets up great for Franz Wagner. We’ve seen some increased ball-handling from Franz, and he would often be the primary handler in his non-Cole minutes prior to injury. It’s not exactly the best matchup because he likes to score from the inside, but the opportunity could be massive.
*We’ll be breaking this down in the content all day, so join us over there as we get more info!
Denver Nuggets at Atlanta Hawks
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