The Miami Heat face off against in-state rival, Orlando, at home for the 4th and final time this season. Let’s find out what NBA 2K says about their matchup.
It’s been a little over a month since the last time the Miami Heat played the Orlando Magic, but the standings are precisely the same for these two teams. The Magic are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, sitting in eighth place while the Miami Heat sits in fourth, still looking to secure home-court advantage in round number one.
This is the final meeting between these two teams in the regular season and the Miami Heat hope to take care of business. With this win potentially allowing them to secure the season series against Orlando at 3-1, they should be looking to do what’s necessary to get it and they might even have some help from the injury gods as well.
Magic injury report for Wednesday vs. Heat:
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) March 3, 2020
Al-Farouq Aminu – OUT, torn right meniscus
Gary Clark – QUESTIONABLE, left knee irritation
Aaron Gordon – QUESTIONABLE, right knee inflammation
Jonathan Isaac – OUT, posterior lateral corner injury and medial bone contusion, left knee
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra looks to have found his preferred starting lineup with Meyers Leonard still out with injury. I thought for sure that he would opt for size against Milwaukee, starting Kelly Olynyk at power forward, but Spoelstra didn’t want to mess a good thing up.
Their bench lineup that features Goran Dragić, Olynyk, Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, and Andre Iguodala has been killing it as of late. He has to do whatever he can to keep that lineup intact.
Every matchup is recorded for authenticity and uploaded to YouTube, so if you want to see the simulation for yourself, the latest upload to my channel will have the footage uninterrupted. There you’ll be able to see the adjustments I made to the rotation of each team and the players overall.
Starting Lineup
Miami Heat
Point guard, Kendrick Nunn
Shooting guard, Duncan Robinson
Small forward, Jimmy Butler
Power forward, Derrick Jones Jr.
Center, Bam Adebayo
Orlando Magic
Point guard, Markelle Fultz
Shooting guard, Evan Fournier
Small forward, James Ennis III
Power forward, Aaron Gordon
Center, Nikola Vučević
Outcome
Miami Heat 131, Orlando Magic 69
The Miami Heat went on a ridiculous 22-1 run to start the game before the Magic scored their second and third points of the game. On one hand, I felt bad for them but on the other, I felt this is exactly what Miami Heat fans needed to see out of their team.
The Miami Heat went on to hold Orlando to just 15 points in the first quarter and 19 points in the second. To say it was a massacre would be an understatement.
At half time it was clear the Magic had no answer for the Miami Heat after giving up nearly forty points to Miami in both of the first two quarters. With 75 points under their belt, the Miami Heat were shooting 70-percent as a unit and already had assists on over half their made baskets, assisting on 17 of 30 made attempts.
It indeed was a sight to behold. Bam Adebayo already had 14 points and seven rebounds to go along with Derrick Jones Jr.’s perfect shooting night that earned him 11 points by the break.
The Miami Heat cooled off a bit to open the second half, only scoring 28 points in the third period but the defense stayed intact, holding the Magic to just 16 points in the period. With a 53 point lead headed into the fourth quarter, it was clear; there was no way the Magic could come back. The Miami Heat cruised to victory, making sure to hold Orlando to just 19 in the quarter.
Orlando took 86 shots from the field and only made 23 of them. If this were real, it would become the team’s third-worst shooting performance in franchise history and including playoffs) according to a Basketball Reference search.
They currently have ten games as a franchise where they have shot 30-percent or lower from the field. Surprisingly, one of them was a 74-73 win against the Philadelphia 76ers back in 1999.
Player stats
Miami Heat
Bam Adebayo – 29 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 2, steals, 4 blocks
Goran Dragić – 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Duncan Robinson, 17 points, 3 rebounds
Jimmy Butler – 17 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Derrick Jones Jr. – 13 points (6-of-6 shooting), 6 rebounds, 1 block
Orlando Magic
Nikola Vučević – 21 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals,
Markelle Fultz – 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Evan Fournier – 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals
James Ennis III – 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal
Terrance Ross – 7 points, 3 rebounds
The Miami Heat obliterated the Magic en route to their 40th win of the season. After defeating the Milwaukee Bucks the way that they did on Monday, there’s no real prediction on when this type of winning will stop.
The second and third seeds in the East look a bit shaky and the Miami Heat should look to capitalize on their soft remaining schedule. Their motto during this remaining stretch should be… take care of business, on to the next. We sure hope they carry that way, at least.