The Miami Heat get their 2024-25 NBA pre-season fixtures underway when they go head to head the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Tuesday.
Charlotte, who got swept by the Heat last season, will head into this one looking to end a run of five consecutive defeats in this fixture and secure their first pre-season victory.
Match preview
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The Charlotte Hornets continued from where they left off in the 2024 NBA Summer League as they put on a show in a narrow 111-109 defeat against the New York Knicks in their pre-season curtain-raiser on Sunday.
Making his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in January, LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with a team-high 18 points from 6-14 field goal while chipping in seven assists, one steal and four rebounds.
Tidjane Salaun, drafted sixth overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, caught the eye off the bench as he hit a trio of three-pointers en-route to scoring 11 points from 4-8 shooting in 22 minutes, finishing the game as one of five Charlotte players to score double-digit points.
New coach Charles Lee will be more than satisfied with another promising display from his side, especially off the back of a 7-8 run in the 2024 NBA Summer League back in July and a strong training camp at Duke University earlier in the week.
Lee, considered by many as one of the top upcoming coaches, has been tasked with taking the Hornets back to playoff contention, following an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign, where they went 21-61 to finish 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Games against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Knicks and the Indiana Pacers await Charlotte after Tuesday's clash with the Miami Heat as they look to gather momentum ahead of their push for a first playoff appearance in 10 years.
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While injury also took its toll on the Miami Heat last season, they finished eighth in the East in an impressive 46-win campaign to lock down a spot in the Play-in tournament for the second consecutive year.
The Heat edged out the Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls in the 2022-23 Play-in en-route to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they stunned the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series, before losing 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.
However, in the absence of Jimmy Butler, who suffered an MCL injury in the Play-in win over the Philadelphia 76ers on April 18, the Heat were no match for a vengeful Celtics side in the Playoff first round as they lost the 4-1 in a one-sided series.
Erik Spoelstra's head into pre-season off the back of clinching their first-ever NBA Summer League title after claiming a 120-118 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2024 Las Vegas Summer League championship final on July 23.
Following a humbling 105-66 defeat against the Golden States Warriors in the opening game on July 6, the Heat won each of their subsequent eight games in the offseason tournament, beating the Warriors 102-99 in the semi-final on July 21, two days before their thrilling two-point victory over Memphis.
The two-time NBA champions now kick off their 2024-25 NBA pre-season campaign against the Hornets who have lost each of the last five meetings between the two Eastern Conference teams, stretching back to a 108-103 win at the Spectrum Center back in February 2023.
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Team News
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The biggest news for the Hornets going into Sunday's game against the New York Knicks was the return of star point guard and offensive leader LaMelo, who had been sidelined since sustaining a severe ankle problem in January.
LaMelo, who was restricted to just 22 games last season, put up a team-high 18 points on Sunday and also led Charlotte in assists (7) in just 19 minutes of action at the Spectrum Center.
Grant Williams was one of four players to sit out the Knicks clash due to injury, alongside Mark Williams, who remains ruled out with a foot problem, and Nick Smith Jr., who strained his left groin in camp.
Cody Martin, who also sustained a thumb laceration and sprained right wrist in the final training camp practice, is considered day-to-day and will be assessed ahead of Tuesday's clash.
As for the Miami Heat, Butler will be hoping for an injury-free year as he enters his 13th pre-season looking to get in shape following an MCL injury back in April.
The 35-year-old, who played 60 games last season and has never crossed 64 games in his five years with the Heat, averaged 20.8 points while shooting 50% from the field to go with five assists per game last term.
Josh Richardson continues his journey to full fitness after undergoing surgery over a shoulder injury in March and the Shooting Guard is not expected to feature on Tuesday.
Charlotte Hornets possible starting 5:
Ball, Gree, Miller, Bridges, Richards
Miami Heat possible starting 5:
Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic, Adebayo
We say: Charlotte Hornets to win by 5 points
With plenty of positives to take away from Sunday, when they took the game down to the wire against a solid Knicks side, Charlotte Hornets now go up against a relatively-healthy Miami Heat side, who will be looking to continue from where they left off in the Summer League.
While we expect the Heat to put up a fight at Spectrum Center, with Spoelstra fielding his big hitters in limited capacity, we are backing the Hornets to come away with their first pre-season victory.
Joshua Ojele
