NBA Matchups: October 28

MIA @ ATL | WAS @ CLE | PHI @ IND | CHA @ DET | ORL @ TOR | HOU @ MIL | GSW @ MIN | DEN @ NOP | NYK @ CHI | SAS @ UTA | OKC @ DAL | LAL @ LAC

Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks (front end)

Team Totals: Heat 118, Hawks 121.5

Injury Report: Simone Fontecchio (D, illness), Pelle Larsson (P, ankle), Mouhamed Gueye (O, foot), Henri Veesaar (O, ACL), Aaron Wiggins (Q, knee)

Heat projected starters: Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo

Hawks projected starters: C.J. McCollum, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu

Spoelstra quotes: Said they just have to address what’s in front of them from the 0-4 start, said they need more vertical space and more space overall on offense, said the Mavs had success with their zone against all of the MIA drives, said they still need to get to their attacks regardless of scheme, said Bam had good looks and he knows they’ll find a way to get Bam to be aggressive.

Snyder quotes: Said the Rockets are very good, said they just were not passing the ball well enough against the Rockets (quick presser).

Stats and Notes:

*Pace-up spot! These two teams rank first and second for offensive pace in what should be a track meet. Miami is by far the biggest disappointment this season, and losing at home to the Mavs was the lowest low. The Heat defense is a huge problem at 26th overall and 28th in the halfcourt. Despite their pace, they have actually kept teams in the halfcourt more than any team in the league, but jump shooting is killing them. They have the third-highest 3Pr and teams are making them at the fourth-highest rate, leading to the most 3PMs allowed per game (tied with Brooklyn). The Hawks like to get up 3-point volume at the seventh-highest rate in the league so far, and they should get their wish. Transition will be a big piece they need to really flourish, though. For Atlanta, they’re coming off two tough losses to the Rockets, but their defense has generally held up. Last year, they were a big on-ball funnel while also being beat inside, so this is a spot where Giannis Antetokounmpo needs a heavy workload.

*Giannis Antetokounmpo should be heated for this one. Spo said “F it” on Monday to play Giannis 39 minutes because they needed a win against the Mavs, and presumably Giannis could see mid- to upper-30s minutes here. The Hawks will likely use Onyeka Okongwu (they did use Dyson Daniels some last year), and the paint defense shouldn’t be good enough to stop him. Love this Giannis spot.

*Bam Adebayo just doesn’t have it this year, and the role has affected him too much. Bam just isn’t getting enough interior scoring right now, and he has to just eat in the non-Giannis minutes. It’s a fine matchup, but the ceiling doesn’t appear to be there right now.

*Davion Mitchell continues to produce at a high level with his 18/1/7 line in 34.0 MPG. The Heat will need some guard defense here, and some of their other defenders are struggling in a big way (we’ll get to that next), so Davion seems OK in this spot.

*The Andrew Wiggins minutes are a disaster with his league-worst -31.7 net rating (yes, I know net rating is a team stat, but woof). His minutes are taking a hit, and it may take time for him to turn it around. Pelle Larsson is somewhat playable. 

*I’m fairly confident that Jalen Johnson is not going to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo, which should mean he’s not in foul trouble. However, this isn’t exactly the best matchup for him because he’s at his best when he can crush at the rim. It’s a B2B, but Quin Snyder doesn’t care. I still don’t want to play Johnson with Giannis and Bam covering him.

*Nickeil Alexander-Walker has run into some really tough matchups this year, including two against Amen Thompson. If Jalen can’t generate enough offense inside, things may funnel back to NAW in a big way here. I still wouldn’t get too excited against an Erik Spoelstra defense, though.

*C.J. McCollum really took it to Spo last year with his 23.0 PPG in just 26.9 MPG. It’s a little different this year because the Heat may really try to attack McCollum, so I’m not all that excited for McCollum.

*Dyson Daniels will have Miami’s weakest defenders, and more offense could really funnel through to him. Plus, the pace of the game should work to his advantage. The Hawks are forcing the second-most turnovers in the league, and it’s mainly because of Dyson, but so far Miami hasn’t turned it over much. He’s just fine. 

*No thanks on Onyeka Okongwu because of him guarding Giannis and the Heat taking away the paint. He’ll have to bury several 3-pointers to matter in DFS.

Great matchups: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Good matchups: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Pelle Larsson

Bad matchups: Onyeka Okongwu, Klay Thompson

Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers (front end)