The Miami Heat visit their in-state rivals on Friday, traveling to face the Orlando Magic. What does NBA 2K20 have to say about the matchup?
The scheduling gods frown up us as the Miami Heat looks to once again complete a back-to-back unscathed. This time they’re at home, and the opponent is division rival Orlando Magic. Here at All U Can Heat, we’ve been predicting Miami Heat games since December, and we’ve been quite accurate to the tune of eight out of nine games predicted correctly.
Back-to-backs haven’t been necessarily kind to the Heat, but the team has done well to not let one or two subpar performances get and keep them down. This contest is no different. After holding the real-life Toronto Raptors to their season-worst in field goal percentage (31.5) and 3-point percentage (14.3), the Heat will have to find a way to beat yet another team who is under .500 and fielding a bunch of young prospects looking to scrap and claw their way to guaranteed roster spots.
The Heat Injury report was home to the usual Justise Winslow with his bruised back and our two-way contracts. The Magic, on the other hand, are looking just like the Wizards did with multiple injuries. The most devastating at all being all-defensive team hopeful Jonathan Isaac. It was determined in the evening on Thursday that he suffered a severe sprain and bone contusion that will keep him sidelined for multiple months.
An MRI on left knee of Orlando Magic F Jonathan Isaac shows a severe sprain and bone contusion and team plans to re-evaluate his status in approximately two months, league sources tell ESPN. Good news: There was no structural damage to ACL, MCL or PCL ligaments.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 2, 2020
The injuries don’t stop there. Aaron Gordon has been battling an Achilles injury all season and missed the last two games. As of the time of this writing, there has been no news on whether he’ll be available for tonight’s matchup versus the Heat, so I manually added his injury and took him out of the Magic’s rotation.
I expanded the Heat’s rotation to ten players and continued to distribute the minutes to mimic the action each player saw during Monday night’s win against the Utah Jazz. Afterward, I headed over to the coaching tab and moved up Coach Spoelstra’s run zone tendency from five percent to 50 percent. I also changed Bam Adebayo’s secondary position to power forward since Meyers Leonard’s positions look that way. Lastly, I edited Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo’s vitals to allow them to initiate the offense.
The Magic’s rotation was a tad more complicated. I manually added the injuries of Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac. Then I re-called second-year guard Josh Magette from the G-League. By mimicking the rotation of the last game they played, I got a taste for who might take over at the now vacant starting power forward position. After some deliberation, we landed on Khem Birch, who played 26 minutes in their loss to the Wizards (See!? Now two teams from the Southeast division have lost to the lowly Wizards.)
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. Leave a comment to let me know you visited the video.
Starting Lineup
Orlando Magic
Point guard, Markelle Fultz
Shooting guard, Evan Fournier
Small forward, Wesley Iwundu
Power forward, Khem Birch
Center, Nikola Vucevic
Miami Heat
Point guard, Kendrick Nunn
Shooting guard, Duncan Robinson
Small forward, Jimmy Butler
Power forward, Bam Adebayo
Center, Meyers Leonard
Outcome
This game was a lot closer than any of us wanted it to be, but the Heat pulled out the win somehow. This had the looks of a trap game written all over it, and the simulation did not disappoint. Plenty of lead changes and big runs from both teams had me sweating a bit, but the Heat ended up taking care of business once the clock struck two minutes, and they pulled away late.
Final score 118-110
The usual suspects of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler we carrying the offensive and defensive load for the team. Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro left a lot to be desired after combing for just 39 percent from the floor. Adebayo notched his first five-block game this season, and I bet he had nothing to say about his 2K rating afterward.
Spo asked about Jimmy Butler’s shooting numbers:
— Jorge Sedano (@Sedano) January 3, 2020
“That’s what young players should learn of what a max player actually means. It’s not about stats or whatever 2K # u get. It’s are you winning b/c of a player. There’s no debate he’s having an incredible impact on our winning.”
The team was able to keep the turnovers down to the league average of 15, and although they got outscored 34-33 in the 4th quarter, they didn’t allow that to sink them. The Heat weren’t scoring in the paint at all, but boy, did they know how to get to the free-throw line. Mission accomplished as the parade of free throws (23-for-28) was a major success.
Player stats
Orlando Magic
Evan Fournier – 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Markelle Fultz – 18 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists,1 steal
Terrance Ross – 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Nikola Vucevuc – 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Amile Jefferson – 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals
Bam Adebayo – 25 points, 17 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5 blocks
Derrick Jones Jr. – 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Duncan Robinson – 13 points, 1 assist
Kendrick Nunn – 10 points, 1 rebound, 9 assists
Honorable Mention: Goran Dragic – Although he shot a poor 4-or-10 from the field, he was doing anything and everything to secure a win and finished with 10 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.
The Heat squeak about a close one at home against the Orlando Magic, but a win is a win. Miami has a relatively easy schedule through the middle of the month, and they’ll have to find a way to beat sub .500 teams convincingly. We’ll be here the whole way through serving up predictions and hoping for the best.