After landing Giannis Antetokounmpo in a massive offseason trade, the Miami Heat entered this season with lofty expectations. So far, they've fallen incredibly short — dropping their first four games and sitting at 4-6 through 10. Giannis has mostly delivered but the supporting cast hasn't found a collective rhythm and they've struggled mightily at both ends of the floor.
They've started to build some positive momentum but have an incredibly difficult stretch coming up. They're on the road tonight to take on the Utah Jazz and then play the Cavs, Rockets, Bucks, Thunder, 76ers, Knicks and Cavs again. The Jazz are one of the only soft spots in that slate and picking up a win tonight could be huge with so many tough games ahead. Unfortunately, the Heat may have to pull this one off without Giannis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as probable
Giannis is listed as probable in the official injury report with a right wrist sprain. Probable generally denotes that a player has a 75 percent or better chance of playing. This isn't a new injury — it's something he's been working through the past few games, all of which he's actually played in. But at some point, the Heat are going to need to give him a chance to rest and recover.
If he's able to play, the Heat may be cautious with his minutes or careful in how they deploy him. And if he doesn't play, Miami's margin for error becomes a lot slimmer with a rotation that was far from settled even when its best player has been available.
Projected Heat starting lineup and rotation without Giannis
STARTER | POSITION | BENCH |
|---|---|---|
Davion Mitchell | PG | Dru Smith |
Klay Thompson | SG | Ryan Conwell |
Pelle Larsson | SF | Tim Hardaway Jr. |
Andrew Wiggins | PF | Nikola Jovic |
Bam Adebyo | C | Bobby Portis |
If Giannis is unable to go, the Heat's rotation looks increasingly thin. Pelle Larsson has been a bright spot this season, averaging 11.1 points, 3.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc. He took Andrew Wiggins' spot in the starting lineup for the Heat's previous game, a win over the Kings, but Wiggins would likely be back with the starters in place of Giannis, creating an extremely small frontcourt. It's worth noting that the Heat have used this five-man unit for 16 minutes so far this season and been outscored by an average of 49.0 points per 100 possessions.
The other option is that Bobby Portis Jr. takes Giannis' starting spot but that leaves the bench unit extremely small and puts together a lineup that has played just seven minutes together so far this season. No matter what Erik Spoelstra decides, any orientation with Giannis means experimenting with something new. Maybe they get lucky, find something that works which they can carry forward and build momentum with.
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