Dallas @ Miami preview
Kaseya Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 2, 2021 ) Miami 125, Dallas 110
In two games since the Dallas Mavericks traded away Kristaps Porzingis, Luca Doncic has averaged 48 points.
On Tuesday night at Miami, Doncic will get another chance to keep up that incredible pace when the Mavericks face the Heat.
Doncic is averaging nearly a triple-double on the season: 27.2 points, 9.1 assists and 9.0 rebounds. He leads Dallas in all three categories.
He has somehow managed to get even hotter over the last two games. He scored a career-high 51 points on Thursday in a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers and followed that up with a 45-point performance in a 99-97 loss to the Clippers on Saturday.
"When you feel like that," said Doncic, who ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring, "you don't want to be stopped."
Dallas hasn't been stopped much lately, winning four of its past five games.
But the Mavericks, who are just 13-13 on the road, figure to have a tough test on Tuesday against the Heat, who have won five straight games overall and will enter with a 19-6 home record.
The Heat lead the Eastern Conference with a 37-20 record. Miami is in at an especially good place now that guard Tyler Herro has returned from a knee injury that kept him away for two games.
"He gives us that offensive punch," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro, who ranks second on Miami with 20.0 points per game and had 15 in his return Saturday. "Great to see him back out there where we didn't notice any lingering effects from his injury."
Herro, one of the highest-scoring reserves in the league, said he's not quite 100 percent.
"I'm feeling better," he said, "a little sore still but good enough to play with my teammates."
Herro, though, is just one of several big Heat weapons, including Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry.
Butler leads the team in scoring (21.8 points) and steals (1.8). Adebayo is averaging 18.7 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds, and Lowry is averaging 13.0 points and a team-high 8.1 assists. Following Miami's 115-111 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, Herro praised Adebayo.
"He's our anchor on both ends of the floor," Herro said. "Defensively, he can guard all the positions. Offensively, he's doing his thing."
As for the Mavs, they are looking for someone to support Doncic. Dallas' second-leading scorer is point guard Jalen Brunson (16.1), followed by Tim Hardaway (14.2), but he is out indefinitely with a foot injury.
"We're going to miss (Porzingis)," Doncic said. "We were (trying to build) something special here, but it didn't work out. (Porzingis) went through a lot of injuries. ... The NBA is a business."
In the Porzingis trade, the Mavs acquired point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Davis Bertans. It's possible both new players will make their Mavs debut on Tuesday.
"Dinwiddie can put the ball on the floor, and he can shoot," Doncic said. "Bertans is a great shooter.
"I have great teammates. We're playing great basketball."
The Mavs rank sixth in the NBA in two-point field-goal percentage (54.0) heading into play Monday. Miami ranks 19th in that category (52.4).
Conversely, Miami leads the NBA in 3-point percentage (37.6), while Dallas ranks 23rd (33.9). Miami also leads the NBA in free-throw percentage (81.5), while Dallas ranks 16th (77.0 percent).
--Field Level Media