76ers (0-12) @ Heat (7-4)
Where: American Airlines Arena, Miami
When: 8:00 PM ET
Watch: Fox Sports Sun/League Pass
The Philadelphia Sixers will be in Miami tonight, seeking their first win of the season on Saturday night. They have lost 23-straight games and are quickly approaching their own record of futility, a 26-game losing streak from 2014. While the Sixers are losing a bunch of games now, they do seem to have a plan in place and will continue to build through the draft.
The Heat enter this game with a 7-4 record, winning 4 of their first 5 games on their current 7 game home-stand. They enter the day with the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games behind the rival Cleveland Cavaliers.
While this should be an easy victory for the Miami Heat, the Heat cannot overlook a team that does have a ton of young NBA talent, including the third overall pick, Jahlil Okafor. This will be the first time former Duke Blue Devil teammates Okafor and the Heat’s Justise Winslow face off in their NBA careers.
Matchup to Watch: Hassan Whiteside vs Jahlil Okafor
Saturday night will be the first time the Heat and their fans will have the treat to watch the third overall pick and former teammate of Justise Winslow over at Duke, in Jahlil Okafor. Okafor is averaging 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game so far to start his career, on 48 percent shooting.
For the Sixers, Okafor is the leading scorer on the team, and that is by a wide margin. After Okafor’s 18.8 points per game rate, the next closest are Nerlens Noel (10.6) and Jerami Grant (10.4). Okafor scores 21% of his team’s points, meaning he’ll need to have a huge game if the Sixers want to pull off an improbable upset.
Okafor will have his hands full on Saturday, as he will matchup with an elite level talent center, in Hassan Whiteside.
Whiteside, who recorded a triple double on Tuesday, is averaging 15 points, 11.3 rebounds, and a league best 4.5 blocks per game this year. He has been nothing short of a monster this season, which will give Okafor all he can handle in just his 13th career game.
X-Factor: Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson has been a key role player for the Miami Heat early on in 2015. Through his first 10 games, Johnson is averaging 9.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, in 21.2 minutes per game. Those minutes are the 7th most per game on the team and the points are the 6th most on the team.
Johnson shot 6-8, including 3-4 from 3-point range in the Heat’s victory over the Kings on Thursday. Johnson has been a spark plug for the Heat’s offense all season and has also played strong defense, forming a strong tandem with rookie Justise Winslow.
The Sixers are not going to provide the Heat with a strong challenge on Saturday night, so the Heat starters may play less minutes than usual. This may allow Johnson to show off his skills even more in this one.
Johnson has gone from an undrafted player to a key role player for the Heat, almost over night. And chances are, he’ll continue to contribute for the Heat. Check out David Hyde’s (from the Sun-Sentinel) article on Johnson’s journey.
Key Stats:
Miami Heat offensive efficiency: 2nd, 101.9 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 11th, 95.2 points per 100 possessions
76ers offensive efficiency: 30th, 90.2 points allowed per 100 possessions
76ers defensive efficiency: 21st, 104.5 points allowed per 100 possessions