Miami Heat: Using NBA 2K20 to predict game vs. Utah Jazz

The Miami Heat will welcome the Utah Jazz into their building on Monday for a showdown in Miami. What does NBA 2K20 have to say about the matchup?

Having only lost one game at home, the Miami Heat look to continue their hot start by protecting their court against the high flying Donovan Mitchell and the Steiffel Tower Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz. So far, our prediction series has been perfect since its inception, and we’re looking to add onto that spotless record by providing moral support and letting NBA 2K20 do its thing with the simulations.

The Utah Jazz have had a rocky start to the season, despite being predicted early on to be a tough matchup in the West. It’s said that head coach Quin Snyder’s system is very complicated, so folks built in a severe learning curve for new additions Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanović but after playing their first 29 games, their 18-11 record is only good enough for sixth place in the brutal Western Conference. Jazz fans may begin to raise their eyebrows if the team doesn’t figure it out soon.

As Goran Dragić did make his return to the hardwood Friday night against the Knicks, the previously used eight-man rotation had to be adjusted. Utah Jazz starting point guard Mike Conley has already missed seven games due to injury, and as Shams Charania of The Athletic reported back on December 18th, he’s expected to miss multiple weeks of action.

I expanded the Heat’s rotation to ten players and continued to distribute the minutes to mimic the action each player saw during Friday night’s win against the New York Knicks. Afterward, I headed over to the coaching tab and moved up Coach Spoelstra’s run zone tendency from 5-percent to 50-percent.

I also changed Bam Adebayo’s secondary position to power forward since Meyers Leonard operates and is used the way he is. Lastly, I edited Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo’s vitals to allow them to initiate the offense. Since I re-added Dragić to the rotation at his usual sixth-man role, I slid Herro down one spot and although Derrick Jones Jr. and Kelly Olynyk played the same amount of minutes, I had Jones Jr. enter first.

Starting lineup

Miami Heat

Point Guard- Kendrick Nunn

Shooting Guard- Duncan Robinson

Small Forward- Jimmy Butler

Power Forward- Bam Adebayo

Center- Meyers Leonard

Utah Jazz

Point Guard- Donovan Mitchell

Shooting Guard-  Joe Ingles

Small Forward- Bojan Bogdanović

Power Forward- Royce O’Neale

Center- Rudy Gobert

Outcome

Just like usual, the Heat pounced on the visiting Jazz, jumping out to a 14 point first-quarter lead. By half time, Utah had done a bit of catching up but were still down 53-45 at the break. At this point, Nunn, Robinson, Dragić, and Leonard were all tied with eight points.

The Heat continued their path to a home-court win by never relinquishing the lead after the end of the first quarter. After putting up three 30 point scoring periods, the Heat finished off the Jazz 116-93, shooting 51 percent from the floor and 42 percent from deep while doing it.

Although they won by 23 points, the Heat still has some work to do to improve. During this simulation, Miami recorded its 16th game of the season in which they registered more than the league average per game (15.1) in turnovers with 21. They also shot 71 percent from the free-throw line, which according to my findings on basketball reference, would’ve been their 16th game shooting under league average from the stripe.

Side note: The Heat are somehow 9-6 in those games thanks to overtime wins against the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Atlanta Hawks.

In only 25 minutes off the bench, Kelly Olynyk led the team in scoring and rebounds (along with Adebayo), with 11 rebounds. Dragić was the only other Heat player to score over 20 points while being able to add three assists as well.

Bam Adebayo grabbed his 18th double-double of the season with a cool 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jimmy Butler continues to be the Swiss Army knife of a leader that the Heat need. Although he didn’t score much, he did everything else the team needed.

If you want to see the simulation for yourself, check out the latest video on my YouTube channel. There, I’ll be providing real-time analysis during the simulation as well as showing you the adjustments I made.

Player stats

Utah Jazz

Rudy Gobert- 25 points, 13 rebounds, 1, assist, 2 steals, 6 blocks

Donovan Mitchell- 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals

Royce O’Neale- 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Bojan Bogdanović- 9 points (2-13FG), 6 rebounds

Emmanuel Mudiay- 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Miami Heat

Kelly Olynyk- 22 points, 11 rebounds

Goran Dragić- 21 points (9/15FG), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

Kendrick Nunn- 16 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal

Duncan Robinson- 13 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal

Bam Adebayo- 12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Honorable mention: Jimmy Butler 10 points, 3 rebounds, team-high 5 assists, and 4 steals.

The Miami Heat shall earn their seventh win against the Western Conference and move on to game two of their four-game home-stand down in South Beach according to NBA 2K20. Next up, the sixth place Indiana Pacers.

What 2K says about that matchup, you’ll have to wait and see. It hasn’t been wrong yet.