Heat hosting another difficult matchup in rival Boston Celtics

In the most difficult nationally televised matchup remaining on the Heat’s schedule, they are set to host the rival two seed Boston Celtics.
(Photo via Miami Heat/X)

The Miami Heat finally picked up an encouraging win in their previous Monday night win over the Philadelphia 76ers. A late run fueled by multiple clutch buckets from Tyler Herro secured the victory, snapping a two-game skid.

However, Miami faces a daunting task in hopes of avoiding returning to the loss column— as they are now set to host the rival Boston Celtics. Boston is currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference at a 50-25 record, following an impressive season in which they were once projected to take a gap year amid Jayson Tatum’s achilles recovery. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games, 3-0 against Miami this year and will aim for the 4-0 season series sweep.

Out of the three Heat-Celtics matchups, this will be the first that Miami sees Tatum on the floor, posing as an even more difficult opponent than what they’ve already been throughout the year. Jaylen Brown has continued his MVP caliber campaign as well. Brown is averaging 28.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.2 steals on 47% shooting.

For the Heat, Andrew Wiggins has returned to the injury report with the same toe injury that kept him for extended time recently. He is listed as questionable, and Norman Powell is sidelined again for the fourth straight outing, too. Wiggins availability will be worth monitoring ahead of tip-off, as his 3 & D efforts would be crucial against the likes of Brown and Tatum.

Tonight’s Heat-Celtics matchup will be nationally televised on ESPN.

Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):

Boston Celtics:

Ron Harper Jr. (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE

Amari Williams (g-league) — QUESTIONABLE

John Tonje (g-league) — OUT

Max Shulga (g-league) — OUT

Nikola Vucevic (finger) — OUT

Miami Heat:

Andrew Wiggins (toe) — QUESTIONABLE

Norman Powell (upper respiratory) — OUT

Terry Rozier (not with team) — OUT

Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):

Boston Celtics:

Derrick White, G

Baylor Scheierman, G

Jaylen Brown, F

Jayson Tatum, F

Luka Garza, C

Miami Heat:

Davion Mitchell, G

Tyler Herro, G

Pelle Larsson, F

Andrew Wiggins, F

Bam Adebayo, C

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST

TV: ESPN & FanDuel Sports Network Sun (Eric Reid & John Crotty)

Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)

Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)

Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!

Heat hosting another difficult matchup in rival Boston Celtics

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