A brief stop at home before getting back on the road. The Brooklyn Nets came home for an afternoon matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon. The Nets put up a heck of a fight, but ultimately fell short. The losing streak is at eight.
The opponent tonight is in the all too comfortable position of the play-in tournament. The Miami Heat are firmly in the middle of the pack and hope that they do enough to get back to the postseason and go on a miracle run. They helped their cause with an impressive home win against the Houston Rockets on Saturday afternoon.
YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Gotham Sports on streaming. Tip after 7:30 PM.
Egor Demin is out. The three two-ways are still with Long Island and both Ben Saraf and Grant Nelson remain with the big club.
Norm Powell is out. Andrew Wiggins is probable. Terry Rozier… yeah he’s got a whole bigger problem to worry about.
Miami won the first meeting in December.
These teams do it again on Thursday to wrap up the season. Bam does a touch of everything well on the court and that versatility allows him to fill a variety of roles for Erik Spoelstra’s club. With Nic Claxton back in action, the Nets frontcourt will get some reinforcements to contest the former All Star and Gold Medalist.
This sentiment from Bam after a Heat loss to the Utah Jazz certainly applies to the next two games:
“We’ve got to find a way to win even against teams trying to lose.”
Not that Jordi Fernandez is trying lose, but… you know.
With Demin out for the time being, Nolan Traore gets even more minutes to get comfortable. He’ll get the lion’s share of the minutes at point with Ben Saraf serving as the backup. Nolan has done well in his time as a starter while Ben is struggling off the bench.
The key to any great defense is to defend without fouling, and the Heat are one of the best in the league at it. Miami has the third lowest opponent’s free throw rate and is fourth in defensive efficiency. You can always survive with a good defense, so that gives the Heat a leg up as they try to escape the play-in vortex.
👀 Player to watch: Tyler Herro
The Heat must see something in Herro that I don’t. This is year seven for the Heat two guard and he’s… ok? Like he’s not actively bad or anything like that, but I doubt he can be the lead perimeter scorer on a team that has serious playoff aspirations. Either way, he’ll be out there tonight and looking to poke holes in the Nets defense. Brooklyn has the worst 3-point defense in the league while Herro has been a good three point shooter throughout his career. It’s a recipe for a big night if things break in Herro’s favor.
Terrance Mann figures to start once again as Demin is out with injury. Brooklyn will count on him for some playmaking, but mostly, his job will be to chase Herro around the court and limit any easy opportunities for him. A two game set is a great chance for Mann and the Nets to see what’s working against the Heat offense and adjust for the rematch on Thursday.
My mic is sounding bugged, Bob Power you there ☝️