Miami Heat look to bounce back against the Charlotte Hornets on the road

Game preview for the Miami Heat at the Charlotte Hornets.

Heat (12-7) @ Hornets (12-8)
Where: The Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
When: Saturday, Dec. 9, 7:00 PM ET
Watch: FS-SUN, NBA League Pass

The Miami Heat are coming off a heart breaking loss to the Washington Wizards, a couple of days after taking over the number one seed in the wide open Eastern Conference. The loss was especially tough for the team because of the slow start they got off to out of the gate and a blatant missed call by the referees that could have decided the game in the Wizards favor.

While the Heat did get cheated by a bad call, that does not excuse the lethargic effort to begin the game, nor does it excuse the 16 turnovers the Heat committed, which is starting to become a worrisome pattern for the Miami Heat in losses.

The Heat will have an opportunity to get back on track tonight against the Charlotte Hornets, as they begin a quick two-game road trip, with the Indiana Pacers on the docket for Friday night. The Heat’s 12-7 mark has them with the second best record in the Eastern Conference and a win today can close the gap on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot.

These two teams squared up earlier this season, with the Heat winning 104-94 all the way back on opening night. Chris Bosh paced the Heat with 21 points and 10 rebound in that game.

The Hornets come into this game, half a game behind the Heat, with a chance to force the Heat into a tie with their losses on the season. The Michael Jordan owned team has won two straight seven of their last nine ball games. The two losses over that span have come against the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On Monday, the Hornets took out the Pistons, by the final score of 104-84. Cody Zeller totaled 20 points and 6 rebounds on 5-9 shooting for the Hornets in the win. Zeller has always played well against Miami and will look to continue that trend tonight.

Matchup to Watch: Kemba Walkers vs Goran Dragic

Goran Dragic, after a slow start to the season, has really picked things up of late. In the month of December, so far, he is averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 59 percent from the field and 64 percent from three-point range. That is a much-needed boost on a team that has had major struggles scoring at times in 2015.

Combine Goran’s improved defense this year with his much improved offense of late, Goran has looked a lot closer to the max Heat the player signed over the off-season. If he can keep that going, the Heat can actually hang with the Cavs in the Eastern Conference for much of the season.

Tonight, Goran will get his second look at Kemba Walker this season. Walker is averaging 17.4 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Hornets. While he is a player that could look miserable on the court if his shot is not falling, he also has the ability to drop a crooked number on a defense if his game is on. For example, he dropped 39 points on the Sacramento Kings on 16-23 shooting in late November.

A key component for the Heat winning tonight’s game may come down to containing Walker and Dragic himself having a big game.

X-Factor: Eric Spoelstra

All eyes will be on what the Miami Heat coach does tonight and playing Hassan Whiteside in the fourth quarter. While this is a matchup that favors Hassan playing heavier minutes, especially late in the game, some fans will be extra watchful to see if Hassan finds enough minutes in what could be a closer game than most.

There was a huge debate on Heat Twitter after the loss against the Wizards on Monday night about the lack of Whiteside in the fourth quarter, spearheaded by our editor Wes Goldberg.

Eric Spoelstra, entering his 8th season as the Heat head coach, is in a similar situation to the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback Ryan Tannehill. He gets all the blame if the team loses, but none of the credit when the team wins.

Key Stats:

Miami Heat offensive efficiency: 13th, 102.2 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 2nd, 96.0 points per 100 possessions

Charlotte Hornets offensive efficiency: 7th, 103.9 points allowed per 100 possessions
Charlotte Hornets defensive efficiency: 7th, 99.3 points allowed per 100 possessions