After the Miami Heat lost to the Orlando Magic last Wednesday, the team would bounce back the night after in the 116-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. With the Heat once again taking on the Bulls on Saturday and Sunday, the statuses of certain players like Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell are in doubt.
As Miami prepares to stack more wins starting on Saturday, the team will once again be without Tyler Herro, but a new addition is Norman Powell, due to miss the game due to “personal reasons.” For Herro, it will be the ninth straight game missed for the guard, but in total, Saturday will be the 39th total contest missed due to a myriad of injuries.
Going back to Powell, it will be just the sixth game missed for the veteran guard, who led Miami with 21 points in the win over Chicago on Thursday and also is first on the team with 23 points per game.
The Heat are likely to be without Mitchell, who is listed as “doubtful” with a left shoulder sprain, as he's missed eight of Miami's last 10 games with the injury. He's been a staple in the team's starting lineup as a play-making point guard, leading the team by averaging 7.2 assists per game.
Heat's Erik Spoelstra on the first of three outings vs. the Bulls this week
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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts during the first half at United Center.
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
While the Heat are surrounded by trade rumors, the team is looking to block out the noise and focus on getting better as a team, but while they've been chasing consistency, it hasn't helped that players are coming in and out of the lineup with injuries. Still, the team could build off of Thursday's performance, which head coach Erik Spoelstra called a “heck of a win.”
“You could see the activity, the intent defensively, and we have great respect for Chicago, how quickly they can put points on the board, that kind of set the tone for the game,” Spoelstra said, via the team's YouTube page. “And then, you know, the second half, it was just back and forth. We never were able to get the lead to 15; every time we got it to double digits, they would chip away at it. But considering everything, it was a heck of a win.”
Miami is 26-23, which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference ahead of Saturday and Sunday's back-to-back against the Bulls.