Inside The Heat

Portland Trail Blazers at Miami Heat Preview

The Miami Heat face the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena
Portland Trail Blazers at Miami Heat Preview
Portland Trail Blazers at Miami Heat Preview

Game time: 7:30 p.m., ET

TV: Fox Sports Sun, TNT

Betting line: Heat -3

VITALS: The Heat and Trail Blazers meet for the first of two matchups this season. Last season, the teams split the season series with each winning on their home court. The Heat are 23-40 all-time versus Portland during the regular season, including 11-20 in home games and 12-20 in road games ... For the Heat, KZ Okpala (health protocol) and Udonis Haslem (health protocol) are out. Guard Avery Bradley (calf) and Goran Dragic (back) are questionable. Guard Goran Dragic (back) and guard Gabe Vince (knee) is probable ... Damian Lillard averaged 33.5 points (48.9% FG, 44.4% 3-PT, 84.6% FT), 10.0 assists and 2.00 steals in two games against Miami last season. The Heat were one of four teams Lillard averaged a double-double against last season

Projected starting lineups:

HEAT

G Jimmy Butler

G Kendrick Nunn

C Bam Adebayo

F Kelly Olynyk

F Duncan Robinson

TRAIL BLAZERS

G CJ McCollum

G Damian Lillard

C Enes Kanter

F Derrick Jones Jr

F Robert Covington

QUOTABLE

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on the trade deadline: "The guys have to go through this every single year. And it just gets noisier and noisier ever year. It is much different than it was 20 years ago, just the amount of rumors.

“But that’s part of being a professional in this business, is learning how to compartmentalize. Our group does a very good job of that.”

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations


Published
Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here