NBA Matchups: February 6

This is always one of the trickiest days of the year, and a lot is going to move based on players becoming available today. The projections should change throughout the day, and we’ll talk through it on the Injury Show.

MIA @ BOS | NYK @ DET | IND @ MIL | NOP @ MIN | MEM @ POR | LAC @ SAC

Miami Heat at Boston Celtics

Team Totals: Heat 110.5, Celtics 117

Injury Report: Tyler Herro (O, rib)

Heat projected starters: Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo

Celtics projected starters: Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Jaylen Brown, Neemias Queta (Note: Think Nikola Vucevic off bench)

Spo quotes: Said they had an “uneven offensive first half,” said they need to have good defense to win games and they need more consistency, said it’s frustrating to see them struggle at times and they have to sustain better play, said “we have to conquer this, we have to be better than this” with their recent play, said it’s not a Miami problem that they’re struggling and every team in the league goes through this, said they have to do a better job of taking away big 3-point nights.

Mazzulla quotes: Said they had great physicality in a B2B against the Rockets, said they were really good on the glass against the Rockets, said Sengun had a tough time with the Queta matchup, said White’s role can “narrow” when the team is short-handed and he’s a “Swiss Army Knife” when they are healthy.

Stats and Notes: 

*Miami’s offense has been a disaster lately, and they haven’t been able to get efficiency in their transition game. This matchup is a tough one for them with the Celtics taking care of the ball, and the Celtics have a top-five transition defense in PPG. They also continue to protect the paint well and even whipped the Rockets on the boards on Wednesday. The Celtics’ defense continues to give up C&S, and Miami should be able to take advantage there with the seventh-highest C&S attempts per game. While Miami’s offense is in a rut, their defense has been superb. They have been giving up a lot more at the rim lately, which may be due to so many games against the Bulls. Miami actually hasn’t been giving up much C&S, and they are giving up the fourth-lowest frequency in the last 10 games. Boston will certainly get them up here, though.

*There’s not too much to be excited about here with the Celtics playing some strong defense. Norman Powell is likely getting the Jaylen Brown assignment, and Powell put up some OK numbers against the Celtics with 22 per game in two outings (Tyler Herro played in one). The Celtics likely really try to take him away, though.

*Ban Adebayo’s matchup isn’t great, and Neemias Queta has been fantastic all year. He also hasn’t had big lines against Nikola Vucevic, either. Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson could be left open a good bit to make them somewhat viable. I’d probably just look to 3-point overs on them and wouldn’t go to them in DFS.

*Jaylen Brown has fared well against Miami in two games with a 29/8/4 line. He did miss the last game, which felt just like a management day (he went through warm-ups). The up-tempo style from Miami should work to his advantage, with Brown being such an excellent transition player. He’s in a huge spot here.