The Portland Trail Blazers are heading on the road to take on the Miami Heat for the first game of a three game Eastern Conference road trip. Portland won their last matchup against the Chicago Bulls to snap a five-game losing streak, including a home loss to the Heat. Miami just beat the San Antonio Spurs to snap a three-game losing streak of their own, putting them just above .500 heading into this game at home.
Portland Trail Blazers (14-28) vs. Miami Heat (21-20) – Tue. Jan. 21 – 4:30pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; NBA TV elsewhere (also available on streaming via NBA TV on League Pass)
Trail Blazers injuries: Anfernee Simons, Robert Williams III, Kris Murray (questionable); Donovan Clingan, Matisse Thybulle (out)
Heat injuries: Josh Richardson, Dru Smith (out)
The Blazers are coming off a rough home stretch that saw them lose four out of five games. The recent will over Chicago will give Portland a little bit of momentum coming into this contest, but their position in the Western Conference standings will not change anytime soon.
The Heat, on the other hand, find themselves in a tough spot in the Eastern Conference. They currently are one spot ahead of the Detroit Pistons for the eighth-place spot in the conference, which would put them in the seven vs. eight matchup in the Play-In. However, they also sit just a half game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the sixth seed and a guaranteed playoff spot. Every win matters for Miami right now, and they likely are viewing this as a game they need to win.
The return of Jimmy Butler from his suspension will help Miami in this game. Butler returned on Friday in a Heat loss to the Denver Nuggets. He was suspended by the team after publicly asking for a trade. Since his return, he has averaged just 13.0 points in 30.0 minutes per game over his last two appearances.
Reader Questions
From Kodiak62:
Miami’s assistant head coach Chris Quinn – your thoughts on the Blazers going after him assuming Chauncey is gone this summer?
I think that someone like Quinn would be a great fit for Portland. Going after a guy on a proven staff is generally a good idea, and I think taking chances on rookie head coaches to lead young teams is a good way to go, such as Mark Daigneault in Oklahoma City or Will Hardy in Utah.
However, I think even more important than just looking for a promising young coach, is looking at proven coaching staffs for those guys. Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the NBA, and Quinn is someone who has worked closely with him for over a decade. I think he would be a good hire.
From GMan83202:
From what we have seen from everyone this year, what is our ideal starting lineup and how likely are we to see it?
Assuming everyone on the injury report will not play, I would say the ideal starting lineup is Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Deandre Ayton. This opinion comes mostly from a developmental standpoint. The Blazers are in a rebuild. Playing young players you hope to develop into key pieces of the next good Portland team should be priority number one. That means a guy like Jerami Grant who does not fit that timeline would take a backseat.
However, the front office and coaching staff will likely not do that. Grant is a veteran that is viewed as a leader for the team. He will not lose his starting spot anytime soon, meaning one of Sharpe, Avdija or Camara will come off the bench. Personally, I would prefer none of the above, but I think the most likely candidate will be Sharpe again. Him and Avdija both put up very good games in the win against the Bulls, but Sharpe did not play significantly better than Avdija to earn a starting spot over him if that is the lineup Billups preferred for last game. Camara has also not come off the bench in any game this season, indicating that his spot as a starter is very secure.
From Duckfan0:
How do Heat fans feel about low ball offers for butler? If they were offered the reported offer they presented for Dame for jimmy would they accept it?
Pat Riley has built a career out of understanding the importance of star power. There is a reason the Heat are a constant candidate when a top player is on the move. If the reported offer for Dame was offered to the Heat, I don’t think Riley would take it because he would be giving up the best player in the deal.
Now for the fans part of that question. I have not seen too much about the opinion of Heat fans about the offers, but did see a lot about the Dame package. Miami fans truly believe that their offer for Lillard was the best on the table, so I would be surprised if they didn’t believe it was a fair return for Butler.
About the Opponent:
All U Can Heat’s Daniel Riccio talked about the Miami lineup playing both Bam Adebayo and rookie Kel’el Ware together.
At the end of the day, Miami is well positioned to now reap the benefits of this drastic rotation change. Not only does it make the talented and hungry Ware a more featured part of the lineup, but it is going to make Adebayo’s job easier. Giving a first team All-Defensive anchor the freedom to roam on the perimeter and weak side is only going to make the Heat’s defense more dominant.
Adebayo’s versatile 6-foot-9 frame makes him arguably the greatest switch big in the entire association with his ability to guard 1-5.
Now that he has Ware’s own size to protect the paint when those switches unfold, the Heat will benefit from having that insurance throughout the game.