In the 2023-24 regular season's closing encounter, the Miami Heat welcomes the surging Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
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In the 2023-24 regular season’s closing encounter, the Miami Heat welcomes the surging Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Orlando arrives in Miami riding a three-game winning streak, triumphing in four of the last five matchups, including a 111-99 win against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. This victory guarantees the Magic a winning record on their five-game road journey, concluding with Tuesday’s showdown.
The upcoming game presents an opportunity for Orlando to achieve a season split in the four matchups against in-state rival Miami.
The Magic claimed the latest clash on Jan. 21 with an impressive 105-87 victory, overturning the Heat’s earlier triumphs of 99-96 on Jan. 12 and 115-106 on Dec. 20.
The Jan. 12 game is part of a set of seven matchups since the start of 2024 where Miami struggled to reach the 100-point mark. The Heat’s record in these contests dropped to 2-5 after their recent game, a 103-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
For the Heat, Herro (head injury), Robinson (concussion), and Smith (knee injury) will not be playing the game. Besides, Cain could also miss out on the game due to illness.
Sunday’s outcome brought an end to Miami’s two-game winning streak, during which they secured victories against the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, following a challenging seven-game losing streak.
Miami’s scoring performance against Sacramento, with 115 points, represented their highest output in the last 13 games. Additionally, the 110 points they scored against Washington matched the second-highest total in the same stretch.
Miami’s struggles on the scoreboard have coincided with various injuries to key offensive contributors. Rookie standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. experienced a breakout, scoring in double figures for seven consecutive games before a groin injury sidelined him for six games from Jan. 15-25. Despite returning on Jan. 27, he has yet to surpass eight points in any of his last five appearances.
Duncan Robinson, maintaining an average of 13.2 points per game, has been absent for the last three games due to a concussion and is uncertain for Tuesday’s matchup. Tyler Herro, with an average of 21.0 points, sat out Sunday’s game due to a migraine headache but is likely to play on Tuesday.
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