The Miami HEAT face the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. The HEAT defeated the Cavaliers 122-101 in their last meeting on March 19. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM. Television coverage on FOX Sports Sun begins at 7:00 PM. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: While down for most of the second half, what led to Miami pulling within three against the Hawks on Wednesday?
Couper Moorhead: This is where we throw the statistics out the window for a bit and talk about just how much this HEAT team, even with just nine available players for a stretch of four games in five nights, just seems to keep on coming no matter the score. Even with 15 losses, Miami's net rating (pace adjusted average scoring differential) is -2.6, meaning they rarely actually get blown out. It just seems this team is allergic to being down double digits, and with players like Tyler Johnson and Rodney McGruder going all out all the time they tend to make enough hustle plays and run enough in transition to keep the team in it even on nights like Wednesday when the offense isn't quite flowing as they would want it to. That sort of grit doesn't always translate to wins, but it says a lot about the collective character of this group.
Joe Beguiristain: Pure grit. Despite having just nine available players on the second night of a back-to-back, Miami made no excuses and kept grinding. While Tyler Johnson had a career-night, both Goran Dragic and Rodney McGruder were also instrumental in the comeback bid. Dragic fought through the fatigue and did all he could in the fourth quarter, while McGruder never stopped hustling on both ends.
In short, the HEAT showed a lot of resolve to climb back and cut the deficit to single-digits a few times in the fourth. Although they ultimately fell short, you have to commend them for never giving up. That persistent mentality all starts at the top with Coach Spo, who always says that his team has enough to compete regardless of the circumstances. It remains to be seen how Miami will fare on a tough back-to-back set against the Cavaliers and Bulls, but you can rest assured that the HEAT will give it their all from beginning to end.
2: How have the Cavaliers started their season as defending champs?
Couper: As you would expect the defending champs to do. Cleveland is 15-5 with an elite offense and an overall defensive rating that, hovering around league average, probably doesn't quite tell the full story since Cleveland has so often been up early. The Cavs recently went on a three-game losing streak, with two coming on the road, against the Bucks, Clippers and Bulls, but this is one of those teams where the true story of their season will be told after April 15. It's somewhat similar to the 2014 Miami HEAT, in that respect, as that team had just come off three-straight trips to the Finals, back-to-back titles and even a 27-game winning streak – there just wasn't much left to prove in the regular season for a veteran group. So, they took a business-like approach to the regular season, won their games, and rounded into shape for the playoffs.
Joe: Outside of a three-game losing streak last week, Cleveland has started the season pretty well. In fact, the Cavaliers are the best three-point shooting team in the league, which should come as no surprise given all the weapons they have. Here's a crazy stat: Cleveland has four regular rotation players who shoot well over 40 percent from downtown. Of course, a lot of that has to do with LeBron James' ability to consistently find the open man when opposing teams send a double team his way. While that's nothing new, James is averaging a career-high 9.1 assists per game this season. Otherwise, Kyrie Irving has been superb on the offensive end, especially from mid-range.
Things haven't been as sharp for the Cavaliers on the defensive side of things, as they rank below league average in efficiency. That said, this is a team that can turn it on at a moment's notice.
3: How can Miami defend LeBron James and is narrowing it down to that one matchup even the right way to think about the Cavaliers anymore?
Couper: Similar to the situation with Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks or Paul Millsap and the Hawks, the HEAT are short a number of their best wing defenders right now. McGruder and Johnson will do the best they can, but sometimes you're just at a size disadvantage and smart, veteran players know how to take advantage of that. And with James you have the added threat of his passing so if Miami elects to try and double him in the post when he has a smaller defender on him, James will immediately find the open space on the floor. Nobody in the league has a particularly good answer for that right now, so Miami may just have to live with the results in one-on-one defense and stay disciplined in their help so as not to allow a barrage of open threes.
Joe: Like I stated in my previous response, Cleveland has so many weapons that you can't just solely focus in on James. If it's not Irving torching you from distance, it's Kevin Love, who is shooting a career-best 42.2 percent from beyond the arc. Let's also not forget the forward's 34-point first quarter against the Trail Blazers on November 23.
As such, I believe Miami should try and go at James one-on-one rather than double team him. Regardless of how much size McGruder has given up, he has made things tough on every assignment thus far. It'll be difficult either way, but the HEAT have the mental fortitude and toughness needed to compete at a high level on Friday night.
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