Preseason Game Preview: Charlotte Hornets at Miami Heat
INJURY REPOT:
Hornets: OUT: James Bouknight (Knee), Cody Martin (Knee), Leaky Black (Ankle), Theo Maledon (Shoulder), Miles Bridges (Suspension) PROBABLE: Bryce McGowens (Ankle), Frank Ntilikina (Hamstring).
Heat: QUESTIONABLE: Caleb Martin
GAME PREVIEW:
The Hornets will take on the Miami Heat for their first preseason matchup of 2023. This will be the Hornets' first real look at No. 2 overall pick, Brandon Miller. Throughout training camp the talk circled around Miller and it sounds like he could make an immediate impact. Look for Miller to play around 18-20 minutes in tonight's contest.
LaMelo Ball will also be suiting up for the first time since fracturing his ankle on February 27th vs the Pistons. This game should be a way to ease LaMelo back into the game flow again as he gets his rhythm back. Ball was playing his best basketball before injury, averaging 25.4 points, 10.2 assists and 8.2 rebounds over his last five games played last season. With LaMelo back it should bring a whole new load of energy to the table for the team.
The Heat are coming off of an NBA Finals visit where they ended up losing the series to the Nuggets 4-1. The Heat lost a couple of key players this season, including Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. It will be interesting to see how much that affects the team this season, but Miami still has their core of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo. The Miami Heat were leading the sweepstakes for the Damian Lillard trade before the Milwaukee Bucks came in and scooped him up.
The game will be televised at 7:30 PM EST on NBATV.
KEY MATCHUP: Mark Williams vs Bam Adebayo
This is going to be a fun matchup and a good test for Mark Williams. The last time these two faced off Williams recorded 18 points and 20 rebounds, while Adebayo recorded just 14 points and 6 rebounds. Can Mark Williams win the matchup again? That would be quite impressive for Williams to pull of such an achievement against one of the better centers in the league.
| Position | Hornets | Heat |
|---|---|---|
Point Guard | LaMelo Ball | Tyler Herro |
Shooting Guard | Terry Rozier | Josh Richardson |
Small Forward | Gordon Hayward | Jimmy Butler |
Power Forward | PJ Washington | Nikola Jovic |
Center | Mark Williams | Bam Adebayo |
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