Miami Heat Face Utah Jazz in Battle of Big Men
By Ehsan Kassim
The Miami Heat and Utah Jazz will meet up on Thursday night, with both teams featuring young up-and-coming centers. The game should be a defensive battle.
Jazz (4-3) @ Heat (5-3)
Where: American Airlines Arena, Miami
When: 7:30 PM ET
Watch: Fox Sports Sun/League Pass
Thursday Night Football does not seem to have a promising matchup, as the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets square off. That game will be particularly depressing for Dolphins fans, as both teams are off to better starts in the AFC East.
For alternate viewing, Miami fans should check out the Miami Heat Utah Jazz matchup on Thursday night. The game will feature two top 5 defenses, as well as two top 11 offenses.
The Heat are coming off an impressive win against the Kobe-less Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat are 2-0 so far on their 7-game home stand. They are currently 5-3 and in fourth in the Eastern Conference. The team will seek to extend their season-high 2 game winning streak tonight.
In the other corner, the Jazz battled the Cavs hard on Tuesday, dropping a 4-point game to the LeBron James led team. The Jazz own a 4-3 record, with a pair of two-game winning streaks sandwiched between their 3 losses.
Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert should present a tough challenge for the Heat’s front court. Both Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside have played well of late, but will have to elevate their games more for this matchup.
Matchup to Watch: Hassan Whiteside vs Rudy Gobert
Speaking of Gobert and Whiteside, this is the marquee matchup in this one. Both are young centers that are well on their way to being two of the top players at the position. Gobert sprained his ankle against the Cavs on Tuesday, but the Jazz fully expect him to play against the Heat.
Gobert dropped 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists against the Cavs on Tuesday. He’s averaging 17.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, with a 17.4 PER. His shooting percentage is down to 49 percent for the season, after shooting 60 percent last season.
For Whiteside, Gobert presents the toughest challenge to date on the season.
Whiteside had another big game on Tuesday for the Heat, against LA. Whiteside scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in 27 minutes. He’s averaging 16.4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game on 64 percent shooting. Whiteside’s 27.98 PER ranks 6th in the NBA right now, just ahead of LeBron’s 27.64 mark.
X-Factor: Goran Dragic
Dragic is off to a slow start to the season, averaging just 10.1 points and 4 assists per game, posting a PER of 11.44. This is obviously a small sample size, but the early returns are damning for Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. They traded 2 first round picks and then rewarded Dragic with a 5-year $80 million deal this past off-season.
The Heat really need to get him going. One way to do that would be to take the ball out of Dwyane Wade‘s hands a bit and let Dragic bring the ball up more. Dragic has created more points per possessions this season than Dwyane Wade, yet the Heat have not made an adjustment on that yet.
The Heat also need to get Dragic in more pick-and-roll plays as well as create some more transition opportunities to get him in a flow, especially early in the game.
Hoops Habit has a wonderful article on the Heat’s incorrect usage of Goran Dragic so far in 2015. It’s worth the read and gives you a better idea of how the Heat can fix Dragic’s early season woes.
Key Stats:
Miami Heat offensive efficiency: T-8th, 102.5 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 3rd, 93.7 points per 100 possessions
Utah Jazz offensive efficiency: 11th, 101.8 points allowed per 100 possessions
Utah Jazz defensive efficiency: 5th, 94.6 points allowed per 100 possessions