Heat vs Pacers preview: Jimmy Butler's injury status, key matchups, how to watch

The Miami Heat will take on the Indiana Pacers in the first of two straight games in Indiana. Here’s a quick scouting report to get you up to speed.

Nuts and bolts

Surprisingly, the Pacers rank 16th in offensive rating, scoring only a sixth of a point more every 100 possessions than the Heat (18th). 

Less surprising, the Pacers are 23rd in defensive rating.

The Heat enter the game ranked 18th in offensive rating and 14th in defensive rating.

Injury report

Jimmy Butler will miss his third straight game with a sprained right ankle, while Nikola Jovic is available despite sustaining a nasal fracture in Tuesday night’s loss to the Detroit Pistons.

For the Pacers, center Isaiah Jackson (Achilles), guard Andrew Nembhard (knee) and forward Aaron Nesmith (ankle) are out.

Player to watch

It’s been an up-and-down start to the season for Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. In 11 games, he’s shot 40% or worse in seven of them. The Pacers are 2-5 in those games. In games he makes more than 40% of his shots, they’re 3-1.

Haywood Highsmith figures to get the initial assignment on Haliburton, with Bam Adebayo likely handling forward Pascal Siakam. That will leave Kevin Love to defend center Myles Turner and Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro to take Bennedict Mathurin and Ben Sheppard.

#RSHK (Random Scrub Heat Killer) watch:

It has to be T.J. McConnell, Indiana’s reserve guard who averaged 7.5 points for his career but has gone off for 20-plus against the Heat twice since December, 2023.

How to watch

FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports) and NBA League Pass at 7 p.m. ET.