The Miami Heat will try to prevent themselves from being the Houston Rockets’ first win of the season Sunday.
Heat (1-1) vs Rockets (0-2)
Where: AmericanAirlines Arena
When: Sunday, 6 p.m. ET
TV: Sun Sports FL
The Houston Rockets are off to a rocky start, going 0-2 to begin a season of high expectations and losing those games by 20 points each. They will visit the Miami Heat to try to get their first win of the season. The Heat, meanwhile, are coming off a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and, though they did lose, they played the Eastern Conference favorites close through the better part of three quarters. Both of these teams have the pieces, but they aren’t ready to dethrone the top dogs of their conference.
Matchup to Watch: Dwyane Wade vs James Harden
Dwyane Wade and James Harden are leading their respective teams in scoring. Wade has started the season strong, scoring at least 20 points in the first two games and shooting better than 48 percent from the field. Harden, on the other hand, is shooting at just a 25.6 percent clip, going 10-of-39 in his first two games. He’s not going to shoot that poorly all season, and we’ll see if Wade will be able to keep him from heating up Sunday.
X-Factor: Goran Dragic
The Rockets like to play fast and will try to control the tempo early in this game. You know who else likes to play fast? Goran Dragic. It will be Dragic’s responsibility, however, to resist the temptation to run along with them and keep the Heat at their comfortable slow pace (the Heat are playing at the league’s slowest pace). He’ll also be paired up against Ty Lawson, a below average defender. If Dragic can get his game going early, penetrating and kicking out to the likes of Chris Bosh and Luol Deng, it’ll help Miami control the game.
Can Miami’s Bench Hang with Houston’s?
The Miami Heat bench has had its ups and downs, and on Friday vs Cleveland they were blown out of the water. The thing with Miami’s bench unit is that they are all complementary pieces that help give a lineup mixed with mostly starters a different pace and flavor. However, in 16 minutes against the Cavs they were outscored by 16 points. That’s too many for the starters to make up, especially against a strong opposing starting unit. Like Cleveland, the Rockets have a good group of starters and a deep bench. Gerald Green will need to do better than the 1-of-9 performance from Friday. Josh McRoberts and Justise Winslow may also need to be more willing to shoot the ball. My main concern is at backup center, where Amar’e Stoudemire could struggle against the younger, more athletic Clint Capela.
Key Stats:
Miami Heat offensive efficiency: 6th, 104.9 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 29th, 87.1 points per 100 possessions
Houston Rockets offensive efficiency: 23rd, 104.8 points allowed per 100 possessions
Houston Rockets defensive efficiency: 26th, 108.5 points allowed per 100 possessions