Heat vs Warriors: Injury Updates, Team News, Match Preview & Predictions

Match details-

Fixture: Miami Heat vs Golden State Warriors

Date & Time: Friday, 29 November 2019, 8:00 PM ET (Saturday, 1:00 AM GMT)

Venue: American Airlines Arena, Miami

Preview-

The Golden State Warriors is no longer the team that won two Championships in the last three seasons, and they no longer have the players that made them the most decorated team in the last decade. To make matters worse, the players who stayed sustained injuries. Going into the Friday’s clash against Miami Heat, the Warriors coach Steve Kerr has just eight fit players to play with. A play-off spot looks far  4-15.

Miami, on the other hand, sit near the top of the table in the Eastern Conference. Very few would have expected Miami to be at a position where they are, before the start of the season. In spite of having lost two of their last three games, Heat sit fourth in their Conference table.

Injury updates & team news-

Miami Heat-

Injuries: Derrick Jones Jr. (hip)- Out, Jimmy Butler (illness)- Questionable, KZ Okpala (achillies)- Out

Predicted starting line up: Meyers Leonard, Goran Dragic, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Bam Adebayo

Golden State Warriors-

Injuries: Kevon Looney (hamstring)- Out, Alen Smailagic (ankle)- Out, Damion Lee (hand)- Out, D’Angelo Russell (thumb)- Out, Jacob Evans (hip)- Out, Stephen Curry (hand)- Out, Klay Thompson (knee)- Out

Predicted starting line up: Eric Paschall, Glenn Robinson III, Willie Cauley-Stein, Draymond Green, Alec Burks.

Predictions-

Jimmy Butler is questionable for the Miami Heat out of illness, and could be a big loss if he doesn’t recover. Buttler has been averaging a team-high 19 points per game, along with 6.7 assists and a career-high 2.6 steals per game. He could bring in another good haul of points if he does play on Friday.

As for the Warriors, Draymond Green is back from his injury, but his performances seem to get a hit having to play without all the stars around him. However, one of the very few positives for the Warriors this season will be the 23-year old rookie Eric Paschall. He is currently leading among all available players in scoring with an average of 17.4 points per game. His aggressive game can be put up a good performance for the Warriors, but it will be hard to imagine the Heat- even if without Butler- to get beaten by a Warriors team with just eight players.