Miami Heat: With Tyler Johnson out, who will step up vs. New York Knicks?
By Trey Flynn
The 23-24 Miami Heat are playing in Madison Square Garden vs. the 10-37 New York Knicks, and with the Knicks having the third worst record in the league, it is quite possible we see the Heat run away in this one.
As odd as it is, the Miami Heat will have more questions than answers with the report that Tyler Johnson is out tonight with an ankle injury. Since Head Coach Erik Spoelstra decided it was best to move Johnson into the starting lineup to replace Rodney McGruder, the combo guard has averaged 12 PPG and 5.5 AST, handling the backcourt very nicely next to Justise Winslow.
In fact, Winslow was able to come down with one of the higher scoring totals of his career last game when giving Johnson the facilitating duties, Winslow finished with 27 points on 61 percent from the field.
Due to the reports of Johnson needing to rest his ankle injury, the Heat will have to ask themselves a few questions: Do they try McGruder again, even though he has been a shell of himself over the past month? Will Wayne Ellington finally get minutes to shoot from downtown? Is Dion Waiters’ ready to get his first start in New York, as extremely fitting as that seems for the self-proclaimed celebrity?
The answer is probably a mix of everything, even though Johnson has not been deserving of his $19 million this season, he does quite a lot in his minutes as a combo guard. Meaning that the Heat will need to ask more of at least one of their wings.
My two cents are pretty simple on the decision, go with Waiters.
While I have been a huge critic of Waiters and what his personality does to this organization (it isn’t a surprise that Hassan Whiteside has gotten less egotistical without Waiters in the lineup), the Heat desperately need offense going into this game and cannot expect Winslow to have a 27 point performance for another night, even if it is the Knicks.
Therefore, I do not believe that McGruder (barely played the last few games), nor Ellington (has not played in over a week) will get any time in this game.
The answer to the Tyler Johnson problem will be fairly simple, and it has to do with putting faith in Waiters’ island. Before you hop out of reading this to get ready for the game, here are the projected lineups for tonight at MSG.
Miami Heat Projected Starting Lineup:
- PG, Justise Winslow
- SG, Dion Waiters … but … you can expect McGruder due to Spo’s lack of faith, which I get
- SF, Josh Richardson
- PF, James Johnson
- C, Hassan Whiteside
New York Knicks Projected Starting Lineup:
- PG, Frank Ntilikina
- SG, Tim Hardaway Jr.
- SF, Kevin Knox
- PF, Lance Thomas
- C, Noah Vonleh
You can check out the game tonight at 7:30 PM Eastern, as it will somehow be a must-watch as the Heat need this win against a tanking team.