Preview: Mavericks host Heat in final game before All-Star break

The Dallas Mavericks stay home on the second night of a back-to-back as they welcome the Miami Heat to the American Airlines Center on Thursday. It's also the final game before the All-Star break for both teams, with each team having a representative in the 2025 All-Star Game: Kyrie Irving for Dallas and Tyler Herro for Miami.

Dallas picked up a thrilling win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, and Irving put up an astounding 42 points to put Dallas over the top. They are undersized and undermanned, as every quality center on the roster is on the injury report and will be out for this game, which could be an interesting matchup against Kel'el Ware and Bam Adebayo.

Miami had a wild loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, as they led by 21 in the first half but fell apart in the second half, losing 115-101. It took a 24-0 run at the start of the 4th quarter for OKC to win the game, but Bam Adebayo led the way with 27 points.

The Heat made a pretty big change at the trade deadline, finally sending out Jimmy Butler for a return including Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Daivion Mitchell, and some future draft capital. The Butler situation had grown beyond toxic, but they got a much better return than I think many were anticipating.

This is the second and final matchup of the season between Miami and Dallas, as the Heat won in overtime in the first matchup in late November. Both of these teams sit 8th in their respective conferences despite different records.