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Miami Heat: Preview vs. the Golden State Warriors; DeMarcus Cousins out

By Trey Flynn

Miami Heat's Dion Waiters poses for the fans after shooting a basket over the Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson in the final seconds of the game to secure the Heat's victory on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Fla. (Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
Miami Heat's Dion Waiters poses for the fans after shooting a basket over the Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson in the final seconds of the game to secure the Heat's victory on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Fla. (Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images) /
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The 26-32 Miami Heat just lost to the league-worst Phoenix Suns and will be facing off against the league-best Golden State Warriors at home in AmericanAirlines Arena.

With the Miami Heat currently sitting at the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, you can expect “tanking” conversations to be on the up-and-up, as the Golden State Warriors will look to take advantage of a struggling Miami team.

However, Head Coach of the Warriors, Steve Kerr, announced that DeMarcus Cousins will be out in this game for rest, and while that doesn’t make too much of a difference, it does mean the Heat will be playing 4 All-Stars instead of 5, which is a small improvement. And while the Heat are 1-6 in their last 7 games, they did almost beat the Warriors in San Francisco, only a week ago. In that 120-118 loss, we saw Josh Richardson score a career high in 37 points. Moreover, between Richardson, Dion Waiters, and Justise Winslow, the trio scored 82 points on 54 percent from the field.

If Miami can repeat that performance, but around a home crowd, you could see a different ending than what we previously saw. Albeit, this Warriors’ team remembers that game fondly, and they will be looking for some revenge as they can blow any opponent out of the water when they are going full speed (which is an insane thing to say about an NBA team). And with the Heat coming off a loss against the Suns, this could get ugly for Miami, especially if James Johnson and Rodney McGruder are still out.

Justise Winslow will most likely be ready to go by the start of the game and Derrick Jones Jr. will be back too, making our prediction for the starting lineup fairly difficult.

Miami Heat potential starting lineup:

  • PG, Goran Dragic
  • SG, Dion Waiters
  • SF, Josh Richardson
  • PF, Justise Winslow
  • C, Hassan Whiteside

Golden State Warriors potential starting lineup:

  • PG, Stephen Curry
  • SG, Klay Thompson
  • SF, Kevin Durant
  • PF, Draymond Green
  • C, Jordan Bell

Injury report: DeMarcus Cousins OUT

Next. Bam Adebayo should be starting over Hassan Whiteside. dark

Tune in at 7:30 PM Eastern to see this intriguing game that will either put Miami in tanking mode or playoff mode.

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