After a chaotic season with tension between the front office and Jimmy Butler, injuries, and more, the Miami Heat made it past the Chicago Bulls in the Play-In recently. They’re now a step closer to becoming the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. However, the job is not done yet for Tyler Herro and company.
The Atlanta Hawks still stand between them and the last spot in the Playoffs. To beat them, the Heat need Herro, Bam Adebayo, and the rest of their stars healthy and ready to go. So let’s have a look at their injury report to see where they stand heading into the Hawks game.
Miami Heat Injury Report – Are Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo playing tonight?
There are quite a few players on the Heat’s injury report for the Hawks game. That’s the bad news. But there’s also some good news for you Heat fans. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo are both healthy and AVAILABLE to play against the Hawks. The same goes for the trio of Alec Burcs, Haywood Highsmith, and Duncan Robinson. All three are present on the injury report. Even so, they’re all marked as AVAILABLE despite their various issues.
However, things aren’t so simple for 3 other players on the Heat roster.
Take Kevin Love, for instance. He’s listed as QUESTIONABLE for the Hawks game as he returns to game-level fitness. Like him, Nikola Jovic is also QUESTIONABLE for the Hawks game as he recovers from a broken right hand. Jovic has missed the last 28 games for Miami because of this injury. And it remains to be seen whether he can make his comeback against the Hawks.
Pelle Larson is the final player on the Heat’s injury report. Like Jovic and Love, his appearance in the Hawks game is also QUESTIONABLE due to a sprained ankle. His status for the Bulls game was changed to questionable from probable. However, he did not receive any minutes despite that. So it seems unlikely that anything will change for the rookie in this matchup.
Nevertheless, that’s it for the injury report. Now, with the information of who will miss the game and who won’t, let’s see the lineup coach Erik Spoelstra may use against the Hawks.
Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks – predicted starting lineup and depth chart
Now, the Heat may have a lot of injuries in their squad. However, their core starters like Bam and Herro, and rotation players are mostly healthy. In fact, the only position they may be shorthanded in is the 5. So, Erik Spoelstra won’t face too many issues in naming his squad for the Play-In game against the Atlanta Hawks. Here’s who we think will be on the court tonight:
| POSITION | STARTER | 2nd UNIT | 3rd UNIT |
| PG | Tyler Herro | Davion Mitchell | Terry Rozier |
| SG | Alec Burks | Duncan Robinson | Jaime Jaquez Jr |
| SF | Andrew Wiggins | Haywood Highsmith | Duncan Robinson |
| PF | Bam Adebayo | Haywood Highsmith | Kyle Anderson |
|
C |
Kel’El Ware | Bam Adebayo | —
|
The Miami Heat have had an edge over the Hawks in their most recent meetings. In their last 5 games, the Hawks are 3-2 against the Heat. And that record becomes 6-4 in the Heat’s favor when you consider their last 10. Moreover, it wasn’t that long ago that they went to the NBA finals. Granted, they had Playoffs Jimmy Butler among their ranks. Even so, this feat cannot simply be discounted.
All in all, Miami has a good shot at winning this game. Whether they can, we shall find out tonight!
