Last-Minute News, Rumors, Reports before Miami Heat Cleveland Cavilers game

Following a daunting West Coast trip, the Miami Heat return home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that was supposed to be a juggernaut in the Eastern Conference led by Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, but it doesn't seem that is the case. I'm here to break down all of the latest news updates going into this monster game for this Miami Heat team. So let's start with James Harden. Through his first 11 games, he's made 36% of his shots from the field. Per Chris Fedor, Harden on the bench, Cleveland's outscored teams by nearly 16 points per 100 possessions. With Harden on the floor, they're getting outscored by nearly 6 points per 100 possessions. After a 5-6 start, Cavs Nation was openly asking whether Kenny Atkinson's future was in jeopardy. Then came the game in New York, in the Mecca, Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The game was tied at 99 with under six minutes left and Harden took over. A 12-foot pull-up, then a 27-foot deep three-point shot, then free throws to close it out. He finished with 32 points and Cleveland won by eight. His next stop is the Kaseya Center, where the Heat are one and three this season. In those four games, Miami has given up 124 points per game. So the big question going into this game for this Heat team that doesn't have much defense to rely on up to this point in the season is which version of James Harden is actually going to show up. The one that made 36% of his shots through three weeks of the NBA season or the one that just buried the Knicks at their place in the Mecca. That fourth quarter by James Harden in Madison Square Garden, it is exactly what Cleveland had traded for. With seven minutes left, Harden drove for a layup. That put the Cavs up seven. The Knicks then answered seven straight points to tie it at 99. Harden hit the pull-up. The Knicks tied it again. Then he answered with a three. After Jalen Brunson cut it to one, Harden set up an Evan Mobley floater and later a Jarrett Allen dunk. That's nine points and two assists in the final seven minutes of a game that was tied twice. He made five of his seven threes that night after making 35% of them over his previous four games. On Saturday against the same Knicks in Cleveland, he had scored seven points. Through 12 games, he's averaging 16.5 points, so for now, Wednesday is still the exception. Cleveland did send Darius Garland to the Clippers for Harden at last season's trade deadline. They won six of their first seven games after that deal, and it looked like that move saved the season. But this season, at least in the beginning of it, went the other way and fast. Before Wednesday, the Cavs had lost five of their last seven. The low point came on Monday in Charlotte against a Hornets team that had lost six in a row. Charlotte led by as many as 33, and Atkinson sat his starters for the entirety of the fourth quarter. Harden scored 11 that night, and Atkinson opened his press conference like this. Quote, I want to start with the positive, and that's the last group that came in and played with the requisite energy, passion, and toughness. When your head coach comes out in a post-game interview and claims that the best part of that game was the guys who came in off the bench to play in garbage time to take a 12-point loss, the starters definitely heard it. And two nights later, James Harden answered the call in New York with that game against the New York Knicks in the Mecca. So now the Cavs are 6-6, half a game ahead of the Heat in the Eastern Conference. And now the Heat get their first look at James Harden and this Cavs team since he founded again. Now, before we get to the rest of the news, this video is brought to you by Kalshi. On Kalshi, you can trade yes or no contracts on anything from politics to the weather to sporting events and anything and everything else in between. Right now, if you download Kalshi with the link down in the description or in the pinned comment and use code digest NBA when signing up, new users get $55 added to their account. instantly after their first $25 trade. You can trade on the Miami Heat to win tomorrow night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with that link and on Kalshi. Again, use the link when signing up. It helps this channel a ton and we do appreciate it. The Heat come home from a 3-2 West Coast trip with wins in Sacramento and Utah to finish it off. Miami has two names on Friday's injury report and both started in Utah on Tuesday. Klay Thompson is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury and Pella Larson is listed day-to-day with an illness. Larson is the big one to watch because Spolster moved him into the starting lineup over Andrew Wiggins in Sacramento. Larson has made eight of his 14 shots as a starter and the Heat have won both games. Wiggins answered off the bench in Utah with 13 points, his best scoring night in about two weeks. If Larson can't go, it seems like Andrew Wiggins will be back into the starting lineup and there won't be a huge wrench thrown in things but again Andrew Wiggins has been extremely underwhelming up to this point in the season. Now for Klay Thompson he is the bigger swing because of the production we have seen from him up to this point in the year. He made seven of his 13 threes in Sacramento then two of 10 in Utah. When he's on he wins games almost by himself. Like the 30.83 game in overtime with the win over the Clippers, where he did make the game winner with just less than a second remaining. He's still making 41% of his threes on the season, so a sore ankle on a shooter that's streaky, it can be a real problem. For another blockbuster name in the Miami Heat organization, Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't on the report with a sprained wrist or not. For Cleveland, Sam Merrill is out with an elbow injury. And that's impactful because that's one less shooter for Cleveland to space out the floor Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. Jared Allen is back after missing the first Knicks game and he grabbed 14 rebounds on Wednesday night. Both teams can play again on Saturday. Miami is at home against Detroit and Cleveland is at home against the Dallas Mavericks. So Cleveland flies home after this game for the second game in two nights and Miami gets to sleep in their own beds for the first time in a while after a daunting West Coast trip. That's a small edge for this Heat team, but they desperately need it after the start they've had and it seems like the matchup is leaning in Cleveland's favor, especially off the game they're coming off of against a credible opponent on Wednesday night. Cleveland grabs 45.7 rebounds a game to Miami's 41.9. From three, it's the same story. The Cavs make 36.9% of their threes as Miami only makes 33.5. With the Cavs making two more threes a game, that's about six more points Before anything else even happens. It's safe to say Miami already got a preview of how this game could go Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz. The Heat led by 23 early in the fourth quarter. Utah got it within five under a minute left and the Jazz team has won. once all season. Miami made only 12 of its 41 threes that night which is how a big league melts. The Jazz scored 50 points in the paint against Miami's 32. They also out rebounded the Heat by nine and Utah was missing four of their starters. If a shorthanded Jazz team can live in the paint and dominate the paint at that against this Heat team could you only imagine what Mobley and Allen are going to be able to do? Now Cleveland's glass has cracks in it as well. On Monday, Charlotte beat them 17 to 4 on the offensive boards, and the Knicks grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in Cleveland's last Saturday game. Charlotte also made 23 of its 46 threes that Monday, so Cleveland can be beaten from deep as well. So it's clear the Cavs can be pushed around, but the Heat have to be the team doing the pushing, and they have the exact guy for it. Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 27.7 points per game through the first 11 games in a Heat jersey. He's also adding 12.5 rebounds per game more than any Cav is averaging. He scores 29 in Sacramento and 30 more in Utah to close out the trip. The Utah game also moved him past Gary Payton into 39th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. He played that one with a sprained right wrist. He was listed as questionable that night and played 31 minutes anyway. If the wrist injury shows up anywhere for Giannis, it'll be at the free throw line. He's made 61.5% of his free throws this season, already the weak spot of his game. In Sacramento and Utah combined, he went 6 of 16 from the free throw line. That makes the plan for Cleveland very easy. Use your two bigs in Mobley and Allen. Put him in front of Giannis and make him earn it at the free throw line. Do not give him free baskets. If he does beat you to the basket, wrap him up and foul him. Make him shoot the free throws. Allen has hurt Miami that way before with 30 points and 10 boards and a Cavs win last November. But that just means the other big in Miami has to show up. Bam Adebayo has made just one of his eight shots in Utah and most of his 11 points came at the free throw line. Miami needs Bam who scored 35 against the Clippers last week. The more these two bigs for the Miami Heat pull the Cleveland bigs down near the painted area and under the rim, the more room the guards actually have to defend. Specifically James Harden and that is going to be how Friday night's game is decided. The point guard for the Miami Heat, Devion Mitchell, is averaging eight and a half assists per game. He's had 10 or more in six games already, more than anybody else in the league. He told Azar Lee, quote, I've always been a point guard. I just think I have a bigger opportunity now and I've been ready for this position. He's also making 40% of his threes, so Cleveland can't just duck under the screens and dare him to shoot. In Sacramento, he had 11 assists and just two turnovers in that game, really being the focal point initiating the offense for this Heat team. His job on Friday against the Cleveland Cavs is getting Giannis and Bam the ball before they can set up the wall in the paint. Donovan Mitchell is the other Mitchell and he's averaging nearly 23 points per game. He scored 37 against the Knicks last Saturday and Cleveland still lost by 12. Last season, he scored 28 twice against this Miami Heat team. In one of those, the Miami Heat still won by 17 in Cleveland, and he finished with a minus 21 plus minus. The March game should be the model for this Miami Heat team going into tomorrow night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Let Donovan get his, but make the rest of the team actually beat you. Whoever on Miami gets the draw with Harden, whether it's De'Veon or Larson, has to keep him off the foul line because he's made nine of his 11 free throws on Wednesday. The two teams split last season's series and each won once in their own buildings. With all of this being said, it seems like Friday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers for this Heat team is appearing to be a coin flip on paper, but if you look at the numbers, Cleveland might have a slight edge. ESPN's matchup predictor gives Cleveland a 53.5% chance to win, even on the road, which is interesting because Kowski's odds are just slightly in the other direction in favor of Miami. So I think Larson, if playing, should absolutely be the guy guarding James Harden. Take away his left hand, make him go right, and don't bail him out with fouls, even though he's one of the best at creating them. Let Donovan Mitchell beat you or at least make it as difficult as possible, but don't let everyone beat you. If Mitchell gets hot, he gets hot, but don't let the entire team get hot. Rebound the basketball, play decent defense. I'm not even going to say good defense because this Heat team has struggled to play any defense up to this point in the year. Let me know down below, what are your biggest takeaways for this game for Miami? Do you think they need the rebound? Do you think they need to play just overall great defense? Do they need to knock down the three-point shot at a 50% clip as a team? What's the biggest thing that you need to see from this Heat team in order for them to be successful against what is supposed to be a juggernaut in the Eastern Conference in the Cleveland Cavaliers? Thank you guys for watching this episode of Heat Digest. Again, remember to subscribe to the channel, like this video. We're trying to have the most liked video on Heat Digest with this one. 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