The Miami Heat look to extend their winning streak to 2 games against the Indiana Pacers, after a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night.
Heat (3-2) at Timberwolves (2-3)
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
When: 8 PM ET
Watch: Fox Sports Sun/League Pass/ESPN
Could the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers renew their heated rivalry from a few seasons back, even with LeBron James back in Cleveland, Roy Hibbert and Lance Stevenson with two different teams in Los Angeles?
Friday night’s national broadcasted game could be our first glimpse at seeing if these two teams can push each other to be one of the top seeds in the Eastern conference. The matchup lacks the glamour of the “winner will represent the Eastern Conference in the finals”, but that doesn’t mean this series cannot be as much fun.
Don’t be deceived by the Pacers 2-3 record, as they’ve won their past two games after an 0-3 start to the 2015-2016 season. They’ll be looking to get their streak to 3 games and get back to .500 for the season.
The Heat will be looking to build their first winning streak of the season and climb two games above .500 for the season.
Matchup to Watch: Paul George vs. Chris Bosh
It’s still hard to believe just a couple of seasons ago this matchup would have been LeBron vs George, but that’s a part of the chances both franchises have gone through the past couple of seasons, hoping to return to prominence in the Eastern Conference.
Bosh, coming off a 16 point, 12 rebound performance on Thursday night, is averaging 14.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, on just 39% shooting, by far the worst shooting performance of his career. Bosh is however shooting 38% from three, which is a result of him taking a career high mark of 4.2 three’s per game.
While his offensive performance is not up to par with his career numbers, Bosh should find his groove in the coming weeks and make everyone forget about his slow start.
On the defensive side, Bosh is far off from a slow start, defending opposing players as well as he has ever done.
Friday night might just be his toughest assignment thus far.
George seems to be back to his form pre-injury, as he’s averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. George, like Bosh, is not shooting well from the court, hitting just 36% of his shots. He, also like Bosh, is shooting a career high 3-point shots, at 6.2 per game. Unlike Bosh, George is not shooting well from 3, hitting just 29% from beyond the arc.
X-Factor: Justise Winslow and Tyler Johnson
Winslow has made quite an impression with the Miami Heat to start his NBA career. He played a career high of 36 minutes last night, when the Heat defeated the Timberwolves.
The duo of Winslow and Johnson has been a thrill to watch, passing both the eye test and as well as projecting well in the numbers.
Tyler and Justise have shared the floor for 61 minutes. Defensive rating of 78.7 and have outscored opponents by 23 pts
— Danny Martinez (@DannyMartinez4) November 6, 2015
While this is a very small sample size of just 61 minutes, you have to hope the Heat continue to run these two out together and see if the duo can continue to build on their great starts to the season.
Winslow is averaging 5.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game on 43% shooting in 26 minutes per game. Johnson is averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game on 59% shooting in 17 minutes per game. Johnson owns a ridiculous 21.26 PER thus far through 3 full games of play.
Key Stats:
Miami Heat offensive efficiency: 8th, 102.5 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 7th, 95.4 points per 100 possessions
Indiana Pacers offensive efficiency: 25th, 95.6 points allowed per 100 possessions
Indiana Pacers defensive efficiency: 17th, 99.4 points allowed per 100 possessions