The Clippers can’t stew over their loss to the Magic very long, as they have a very short turnaround time on this back to back against the Heat.
Game Information
Where: FTX (lol) Arena, Miami, Florida
When: 4:30 PM PT
How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal, NBA TV
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers:
Heat: Kyle Lowry – Tyler Herro – Max Strus – Caleb Martin – Bam Adebayo
Injuries
Clippers: Norm Powell Out (Groin), Kawhi Leonard Out (Injury Management), Marcus Morris Questionable (Illness), Moussa Diabate Out (G-League), Jason Preston Out (G-League)
Heat: Jimmy Butler Questionable (Conditioning), Dewayne Dedmon Questionable (Foot), Gabe Vincent Out (Knee), Victor Oladipo Probable (Knee), Haywood Highsmith Probable (Ankle), Max Strus Probable (Shoulder), Omar Yurtseven Out (Ankle)
The Big Picture
The Clippers will have less than 24 hours after their disappointing loss to the Magic to ruminate before tipping off against the Heat. Presumably, some of the players who were out against the Magic – John Wall, Luke Kennard, Marcus Morris – will play in this one and be fresher, but still, a lot of key Clippers will be tired from an overtime game the night before. The Heat aren’t much better than the Magic, but they do have a couple key guys of their own who might be returning, and it will be interesting to see what kind of fire the Clippers come out with. I’d be a bit surprised if the Clippers didn’t start this game off well after the Magic debacle, but who knows with this team.
The Antagonist
The Heat are kind of a mirror image of the Clippers in that they possess a very good defense and a putrid offense. In fact, there are a ton of similarities between the two teams. Both are veteran groups, Ty Lue and Erik Spoelstra are considered two of the best coaches in the NBA, and both teams have been banged up to start the year. The Heat have the worse record, but have played a somewhat tougher schedule. The Clippers and Heat are also two of the more disappointing teams in the NBA this season. And with all that said, watch this game be amazing.
Notes
Working Lineup: The Clippers’ best post-first quarter stretch in the Magic game came in the mid-4th quarter with a Mann-PG-RoCo-Nico-Zu unit. While the Clippers will have a bunch of their guards back in this game, I’d love to see this lineup again, as it offers size, excellent defense, rebounding, and shooting. It is light on creation and playmaking, but the defense might be enough to make up for it, especially in smaller doses.
Stopping Bam: Ivica Zubac has seemingly slowed a bit the past week or two, possibly because he’s playing a lot more minutes than he ever has in the NBA before. However, he needs to be in tip-top form for this one, because Bam Adebayo is having a great season and always plays at 110%. If Zu c just limit the damage Bam does by preventing him from getting going in his pet dribble handoffs and contesting his jumpers, the Clippers will be in a strong chance to take home the win.
