A new-look Miami Heat (4-2) will take on the Charlotte Hornets (2-3) at the Time Warner Cable Arena on Oct. 20, Thursday as the 2016-2017 NBA Preseason Games slowly come to a close.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:00 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Miami has been successful in this year's preseason in terms of gathering wins as the team won four of their first six games.
There are two obvious changes in the Heat's lineup this preseason as team leader Dwyane Wade is no longer there and Chris Bosh is still not cleared to play and could be officially released by the team before the new season begins.
Taking the team's reins are Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic, Miami's new inside-out combination and head coach Erik Spoelstra has seen what the duo can do during the Heat's first four games.
Incoming sophomore Justise Winslow has also impressed at the starting small forward spot while new acquisition, veteran Derrick Williams, thrived as the starting power forward. It remains to be seen, though, whether Spoelstra will stick to the former Knick during the regular season.
As for the starting shooting guard position, Tyler Johnson is expected to take the spot with Dion Waiters serving as his primary backup.
At the moment, the Heat looks quite competitive although they had gotten much younger than the previous years now without the Big Three of Wade, Bosh, and LeBron James.
Meanwhile, the Hornets are showing some signs of life lately as they won their last two preseason games after dropping their first three.
All the starters of head coach Steve Clifford are available at the moment and he had been playing them in the last two games like it is already the regular season, which explains their two-game winning run.
Veterans Roy Hibbert and Marvin Williams proved to be stable figures inside the paint while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nicolas Batum are effective in the wings. Point guard Kemba Walker orchestrates everything, which is why team owner Michael Jordan has been smiling a lot these days.
With the starting unit healthy, the Hornets are a formidable bunch both in offense and defense. With such long-armed defenders, the team had limited the offensive-minded Wolves to only 86 points on Oct. 10.
Prediction
If Clifford sticks to his first five, then the Hornets will win their third game in a row.
