Coming off a six-game road trip punctuated with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Miami Heat finally return home later tonight in search of a pick-me-up victory. They’ll host the well-rested Milwaukee Bucks, who’ve been rounding into form of late.
[sc:NBA250 ]Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our breakdown of Thunder vs. Nuggets.
[sc:NBA240banner ]After two days of rest, the Bucks hope that they have their legs back. The Bucks played four games in five nights prior to their short break, going 3-1 SU in the process. That included their 105-92 win over Charlotte on Saturday, in which Khris Middleton continued his excellent shooting.
Middleton has been on fire of late, as he’s scored at least 24 points in the last three games. He’s also shooting 51.3 percent from field over the past 11 games. The swingman out of Texas A&M had 24 points on 11-for-16 from the field in the Charlotte game.
Middleton and the Bucks’ other perimeter players are pressed to deliver later tonight, considering that Miami has the best rim protection in the league. The Heat are No. 1 in the league in blocks with 6.6 per game.
Should Greg Monroe (15.8 points per game) be slowed down by Miami’s bigs, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Carter-Williams will have to carry extra loads. The Greek Freak is third on the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game, while MCW is putting up 11.8 per contest thus far this season.
Milwaukee’s middle-of-the-road defense allows 103.3 points per game, but the Bucks are facing an injury-plagued Miami team.
It’s not a good time to be a Miami fan these days, as the Heat have lost five of their last seven games. On top of that, Miami is also being slowed down by injuries to some of its key rotation players.
In their most recent outing on Sunday, the Heat received a 99-74 beating at the hands of Oklahoma City. Playing minus starting point guard Goran Dragic and main backup Beno Udrih, the Heat had a rough time finding the basket. They made just 30 shots on 72 attempts, while shooting 4-for-14 from beyond the arc. Moreover, they committed 19 turnovers, highlighting the team’s struggle on offense.
Dragic is expected to be out for at least this week while Udrih has been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest. That leaves most of the quarterbacking duties to Tyler Johnson. Johnson committed four turnovers in the OKC game but had a decent line of 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The absence of Dragic should make Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all the more visible on offense. Wade had 22 points in 29 minutes in the loss to the Thunder, while Bosh scored just 12 points to go along with four boards.
After coughing the ball 19 times against OKC, the Heat must learn their lesson and take better care of the leather later tonight, as Milwaukee is fifth in the NBA in points off turnovers with 18.8 per game.
Miami is 2-1 SU and ATS in its last three home games.
