The Miami Heat are currently going through their toughest stretch this season so far. The issues aren’t schedule-related, but it’s injuries that are giving Miami some problems.
Bam Adebayo is currently appearing to be out for four to six weeks after surgery on a torn UCL. While he’s out for the thumb injury, Markieff Morris is still recovering from the cheap shot from Nikola Jokic, as he will miss his 13th straight game.
Jimmy Butler will also sit out of the current road trip to Indiana and Milwaukee with a tailbone contusion. None will travel with the team for the upcoming road trip.
The Heat did get Tyler Herro back and they’ll need him more than ever. Their current road trip is a back to back, starting off with Indiana.
Miami lost their first meeting to the Pacers in Indiana. With a poor effort, they wound up losing, 102-91, in overtime without Kyle Lowry.
Now, they have Kyle Lowry but are missing their two star players. While it may seem like a definite defeat, which is understandable, the Pacers, at times, tend to play down to their opponents.
Here’s how and why the Heat can get a win there.
Miami Heat: What are they to do on 2-game back to back road trip?
They have multiple losses to the Raptors, the Nuggets without Jokic, Michael Porter Jr, and Jamal Murray, while they even have a loss to the Pistons. They’re currently on a three-game losing streak too, so if there was any time for the Heat to steal a game, it would be now.
Herro, in his first game this season without Butler and Adebayo, scored 21 points on 9-23 shooting. It was a tough game, coming back from time missed, but he should be able to adjust soon.
With players coming in and out, we need to see more from Lowry too. In their last game, he had just seven points on 2-9 shooting.
They’re going to need more from him if they want to survive these injuries. Nobody is expecting him to score 30-40 points, but we do expect for him to, at least, look to score with players out.
Defensively, they’ll need a unified effort to survive. The pick and roll will be hard to stop as Brogdon is a fantastic decision-maker, while Sabonis almost forces you to switch every time with those physical screens.
The game is winnable though. The Heat just need to get in the mud with the Pacers.
That means trying to disrupt their flow, pray shooters can hit their shots, and just trust in Tyler Herro. It’s time for Tyler to prove he can lead a team without All-Stars to a win, at least on a few occasions right now.
Miami Heat: They should win the first game, but the second will be challenging
The next game on the back-to-back is the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were on an eight-game win streak before losing to the Raptors.
They are going to be looking to get their streak going again, as they look to climb back higher into the Eastern Conference standings. Miami had blown out Milwaukee in their first game of the season.
Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez were out for that one, so expect Giannis and the Bucks to show no mercy if they can. Besides Phoenix, they’re the hottest team in the league and I don’t think Miami can do anything to stop it.
Bam is the best-equipped defender to guard Giannis and without him, it could get scary. Milwaukee is eighth in the league in 3 point percentage and with Giannis drawing multiple defenders, their shooters could have target practice.
The main goal for Miami in this game is to compete and come out with no injuries. Don’t just keel over and give up, give them a run for their money.
Make them earn that win, but don’t get injured in the process. Don’t go up for a shot or block that could put you in a situation to get hurt.
The last thing Miami needs on this trip is more injuries. That should be the overall goal for both games, but it would be nice to sneak away with a very winnable game in Indiana.
If they can get back home to Miami fully healthy, that would be a win. Well, because on the other side of that, you imagine a healthy Jimmy will be waiting.