Trail Blazers @ Heat Preview
Breaking down the Trail Blazers vs. Heat
It’s been a bleak road trip so far for the Blazers, losing against the Thunder and Magic by a combined 24 points. They’re now in South Beach to take on Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat for an early 10:00 AM tip off. To avoid losing three games in a row, the Blazers will need consistency from their entire roster.
Current Form
Unfortunately, Portland is going backwards in it’s development, as they have been unable to capitalize on some solid games last week. In their latest effort against the Magic, every Blazers starter registered negative plus/minus numbers. Al-Farouq Aminu at least seems to be finding his rhythm, going 4-5 on threes, but constant reliance on the Blazer’s guards in crunch-time is becoming a strategy that opposing teams capitalize on with double teams and strong deny defense.
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On the other side, Miami is playing great. Under Wade and Chris Bosh’s leadership, the Heat are finally looking like a contender for the first time since Lebron James left. Goran Dragic has started to regain the form that made him an All-NBA point guard two years ago, while Hassan Whiteside continues to grow into one of the league’s best centers. EDGE HEAT
Key Matchup
The shooting guard position of the NBA has very few “Superstars” right now, but there is no doubt that Wade is one of them. C.J. McCollum is quickly turning into one of the best guards in the league himself, but he will be defending a three-time champion who’s scored over 20 points in six of the last ten games. We all know that McCollum can create offense out of nothing, but he needs to step up his defense in order to outduel Wade. EDGE HEAT
Coaching
Terry Stotts has done a terrific job this season. He has been able to lead a team that America had written off as lottery bound to a playoff contender. Portland native Erik Spoelstra can win without James, using what he learned in those years to push this team into title contention. Despite his young age, his biggest strength is managing egos of league veterans, showcased by the beautiful team basketball this team has been playing as of late despite their tremendous star power. EDGE HEAT
Stat to Watch
It’s simple, the Blazers need to make shots. Being an outside shooting team is the recipe for success (just ask the Warriors). But in order to succeed, the Blazers need a stellar field goal percentage if they are going to have any chance against a team this good. This means creating open shots instead of forcing contested ones and engaging multiple defenders in order to find the open man. Wade and Dragic aren’t known for their defense, which means McCollum and Damian Lillard will have open looks. They’ll need to make most of them, especially from three, to get the road victory. EDGE HEAT
Overtime
It’s always tough for a West Coast team to play well when tip-off is 10:00AM PST. A player’s internal clock can be a roadblock because they aren’t used to exalting that much energy when it’s early in the day. The Blazers must wake up and be ready to play because if they don’t, this game has the potential to get ugly in a hurry.
Most experts are picking the home team and it’s hard not to. The Blazers must be close to perfect in order to walk away victorious in South Beach.