Location:
American Airlines Arena, Miami Florida
Probable Starters:
Cleveland:
- Collin Sexton
- Cedi Osman
- Alec Burks
- Jaron Blossomgame
- Channing Frye
Miami:
- Justice Winslow
- Josh Richardson
- Hassan Whiteside
- James Johnson
- Rodney Mcgruder
Miami- When the Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Miami Heat Friday night both teams will be looking to bounce back.
The Cavaliers are losers in four straight, and hold the leagues worst (8-27) record. While the Heat blew a 17 point third quarter lead in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. Circumstances are slightly better in Miami, the Heat currently are 8th in the Eastern conference playoff picture.
Miami veteran Dwayne Wade was in good spirits following the Raptors loss. “You’re going to lose games in this league,” Wade said. ” It’s the way you bounce back from those losses. . The last few times we’ve had losses, we’ve bounced back pretty well.”
Cleveland meanwhile is in yet another tough stretch this season. A loss Friday would be their third losing streak of five or more games. Cavaliers coach Larry Drew knows winning in Miami won’t be easy. “It’s one of those arenas that it’s tough to win here. Can we do it? Yeah we can do it. But we have to play well all four quarters.”
The challenge of playing four consistent quarters will be more difficult Friday night against the Heat defense. The Cavs expect Miami to play more zone than they usually do, something that has become commonplace against Cleveland.
Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr believes the Cavs can handle the Heat zone, “make a couple shots on the perimeter. That’s how you shoot someone out of a zone. We’ll see if we can get our 35 year old seven footer to hit some threes tonight.”
Following the game in Miami the Cavaliers will board a plane and head to Atlanta. The Cavs and Hawks play Saturday night, the last game of 2018 for Cleveland.
Other notes:
Despite being hours from a game, the Cavaliers signed Patrick McCaw to an offer sheet early Friday afternoon. The former Golden State Warriors guard has been out of the league this season with contract uncertainty.
The Warriors offered McCaw a 2 year $5.2 million contract back in October, but McCaw never signed. The deal with Cleveland is not guaranteed and Golden State is still deciding if they want to match the offer sheet. If the Warriors decide to match, it would be an $11.3 hit against the luxury tax.
In his two seasons with GS McCaw averaged 4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists, while shooting 42.1 percent from the field. The move is an interesting one for the Cavaliers as they continue to find pieces for the future.
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