Heat to begin two-game homestand against second seed Cavaliers

The Miami Heat’s battle tested early season schedule will continue with a two-game home set against the East contending Cleveland Cavs. (Photo via Getty Images)

As part of this brutal beginning stretch on the Miami Heat’s 2025-26 schedule, they will face yet another difficult challenge against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

It will be the first of a two-game homestand set versus the 7-3 and second seeded Cavs for Miami. The Heat, going into the matchup sporting a 6-4 record following two consecutive wins, will be without their two All-Star’s in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro due to injury. Miami is one of three Eastern Conference teams to remain undefeated at home this season, and will attempt to keep that notion the same against an East contender. In a trending social media fun fact, the Heat have reached the NBA Finals the last two times they opened a season 4-0 at home.

Pelle Larsson will continue to get the starting nod with Adebayo’s absence. The Heat’s lack of big man depth has limited them to only being able to go small now within their first unit. However, Larsson is coming off another productive 15+ scoring outing versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. He has been super impactful in his role thus far, and is making a legitimate case to remain in Miami’s rotation longer term.

Nikola Jovic will look to build off his career-high 29 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists outing— hoping to keep stacking up strong performances after a shaky start to his season. Additionally, Norman Powell is likely to keep getting the green light offensively, as the veteran scorer is coming off an efficient 22-point statline himself. He has dropped 20+ points in six of his seven games as a new member of the Heat so far this year.

Tonight will be the first Heat/Cavs matchup since Miami was swept out of the 2024 postseason by Cleveland just a few months ago. Can the undermanned Heat pull off another statement win?

Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):

Miami Heat:

Dru Smith (knee) — PROBABLE

Tyler Herro (ankle) — OUT

Bam Adebayo (toe) — OUT

Terry Rozier (not with team) — OUT

Myron Gardner (g-league) — OUT

Jahmir Young (g-league) — OUT

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Larry Nance Jr. (knee) — QUESTIONABLE

Max Strus (foot) — OUT

Chris Livingston (g-league) — OUT

Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):

Miami Heat:

Davion Mitchell, G

Norman Powell, G

Pelle Larsson, G/F

Andrew Wiggins, F

Kel’el Ware, C

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Darius Garland, G

Donovan Mitchell, G

Deandre Hunter, F

Evan Mobley, F

Jarrett Allen, C

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST

TV: 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 to begin two-game homestand against second seed Cavaliers

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