Dallas Mavericks: Miami Heat present fun game of two balanced teams

The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the better teams this year from their best player down to their 10th best player. The Miami Heat also use a solid 10-man rotation.

There are few teams in the league that have 10 players that really earn their playing time on a nightly basis. The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat happen to be two of those teams and they face off against each other tonight in a possible NBA Finals matchup that I wouldn’t bet on happening.

The Heat have been a bit of a surprising team this year, currently sitting third in the East and utilizing a fast-paced offense that has left defenses in a state of confusion. They are in the top 12 in both points per game and opponent points per game. A lot of their success on both ends of the court has come from Bam Adebayo, who presents a uniquely difficult matchup for many teams.

The Mavs will likely throw Kristaps Porzingis at Adebayo for a large part of the night, but expect to see Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber on him as well. The Heat also have a couple very good defenders that will try their hand at Luka Doncic, but I still wouldn’t expect to see anyone really slow him down for long.

It will be interesting to see how they handle KP. Porzingis is an outside threat, meaning they won’t want to use Adebayo on him. Bam will be used best around the rim, protecting from the Mavs onslaught of alley-oop attempts to various players. If the Mavs can draw him out, though, it could bode well for the offense.

Tim Hardaway Jr. will need to regain his shooting stride again tonight as well. He struggled to find his groove against the Pistons after a great game against Sacramento. He has not fallen off for any length of time since joining the starting unit, so there is no need to panic about his shooting, just would be nice to see him get back on track.

Dallas and Miami tip-off back in Dallas at 7:30pm central time. Delon Wright is questionable for the Mavs still at this time, while Miami will be without Justise Winslow, Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters and James Johnson. Everyone else is considered active at this time.