Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls go toe-to-toe on Monday night as the Miami Heat host the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Kaseya Center.
The Heat (6-4) aims to build on back-to-back wins — punctuated by a comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers — while the Cavs (7-3) look to push their winning streak to five.
Looking at the injury report, Max Strus (foot) is out for Cleveland, while Larry Nance Jr. (knee) is listed as questionable for Monday’s contest. For Miami, Tyler Herro (foot/ankle), Terry Rozier (leave), and Bam Adebayo (toe) are out, with Dru Smith (knee) listed as probable.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. The Cavs enter as a 5.5-point road favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Heat is listed as a +240 underdog. The game’s total is set at 247.5 points.
Cavaliers vs. Heat Preview
Despite where they’re at in the standings, you could argue that the Heat have been playing better basketball than the Cavs this season. Miami has a middling offense, but a top-five defense has propelled them to a 7th-ranked net rating — third highest in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat have scored the NBA’s second-most points per game (124.1) with the fifth-best efficiency (49.9%) — a product of expert ball movement, ranking second in assists per game. But where Miami really shines is on the other end; the Heat ranks third in steals, while limiting fouls, also holding teams to the fourth-lowest field goal percentage (43.9%) and bottom-three efficiency from beyond the arc (32.2%).
Norman Powell averages a team-high 23.3 points per game, while Adebayo and Davion Mitchell lead the Heat in rebounds (8.1) and assists (7.5), respectively. Nikola Jovic enters Monday’s contest fresh off dropping a career-high 29 points against the Blazers.
Cleveland isn’t much further behind, owning a top ten offensive (9th), defensive (9th), and net rating (8th). The Cavaliers live and die by the deep ball, making the most threes per game (16.6) on an NBA-leading 45.3 attempts a night — a decent 36.6% clip.
While they’ve struggled in the rebounding department, Cleveland, like Miami, does a great job of generating steals, and forces the second-most turnovers league-wide. The Cavs have struggled to defend the three-ball, but they’ve limited points in the paint and second-chance opportunities, while shutting down fast breaks.
Donovan Mitchell remains one of the best scorers in basketball, averaging over 30 points per game at a 53.4% clip, while sprinkling in five assists. Evan Mobley adds a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game, and Lonzo Ball paces the Cavs with 5.5 assists — though Darius Garland has averaged 6.5 dimes in his two games back.
Cavaliers vs. Heat Pick, Best Bet
While Miami’s defense is imposing for any team — particularly the Cavs, who live and die by the three — it’s going to be severely understaffed without Adebayo, who’s set to miss his third straight game.
While Miami held Charlotte to just 108 points on Friday, that was, well, Charlotte. And though the Heat won against the Trail Blazers on Saturday, they had to score 136 points to do so — coughing up 131 in return.
Count on Cleveland to capitalize against the depleted Heat defense and coast to its fifth-straight victory in convincing fashion.
