Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat will be playing against Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic tonight. As most members of the basketball community should be able to remember, Butler and the Heat managed to make it all the way to the NBA Finals last season. However, they ended up falling short at the hands of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Since the Heat managed to make it to the Finals once again last season, the standards and expectations for this team are inevitably quite high heading this season. At the moment, Miami holds a record of 15 wins and 12 losses, giving them the 7th spot in the East.
To the surprise of many NBA experts, Banchero and the Orlando Magic have started the season much better than expected and currently have a record of 16 wins and 9 losses, placing them in the 4th position.
As the Heat and Magic get ready to play, fans might be interested in reading about the injury reports and expected starting lineups for this game. A prediction will also be made for those who are interested in knowing how this matchup could potentially play out.
Jimmy Butler is listed as out for the Miami Heat vs Orlando Magic game tonight
Miami Heat fans might be disappointed to hear that Butler does not look healthy for this game against the Magic. There is no denying the fact that adding him to their roster has resulted in transforming the team into a championship contender.
According to the injury reports, Butler is listed as out and is currently dealing with a calf injury. Not having him means that Erik Spoelstra will have to utilize the best available lineup. That said, here are the injury reports and expected starting lineups for this game.Miami Heat injury report
- Jimmy Butler (out)
- Dru Smith (out)
- Kevin Love (questionable)
Miami Heat expected starting lineup
- Tyler Herro
- Duncan Robinson
- Caleb Martin
- Josh Richardson
- Bam Adebayo
Orlando Magic injury report
- Markelle Fultz (out)
- Joe Ingles (questionable)
Orlando Magic expected starting lineup
- Anthony Black
- Jalen Suggs
- Franz Wagner
- Paolo Banchero
- Goga Bitadze
With the exception of Jimmy Butler and Markelle Futz, the main stars for both sides look healthy. Now, fans can find out the predictions for this game.
The Magic are favored over the Heat tonight
Paolo Banchero and his squad have exceeded all expectations to start the season and are currently a top 4 team in the Eastern Conference. Since the Heat will not have Butler and have not been playing as well this season, they will not be expected to win this game against the Magic.
However, fans shouldn’t forget that the Heat are the current conference champions and will certainly not go down without a fight. Although this is expected to be a close match, Orlando is favored to win.