Could Tropical Storm Nicole impact Heat-Hornets game Thursday? Here’s the latest
The NBA and Miami Heat continue to monitor Tropical Storm Nicole, but Thursday’s game between the Heat (4-7) and Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena is scheduled to go on as planned, a league source told the Miami Herald late Wednesday afternoon.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the Heat plans to hold a shootaround before the game after canceling practice on Wednesday. The storm is supposed to make landfall on the east coast of Florida at some point overnight Wednesday near the Palm Beach-Martin County border, potentially as a Category 1 hurricane.
The Hornets host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night and are then scheduled to fly to Miami following that game. That has the Hornets arriving to Miami just after midnight Thursday, which is around the time that the storm is expected to make landfall.
The NBA has already moved up the tipoff time of the Orlando Magic’s game on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks at the Amway Center from 7 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. due to the storm.
While most of South Florida is outside the storm’s cone of uncertainty, the area is still expected to feel its impact. Broward County could potentially see two to four feet of storm surge and Miami-Dade one to two feet, with tropical storm-force winds expected to reach most of the state.
However, the National Hurricane Center on Wednesday afternoon lifted the tropical storm watch for Miami-Dade County for all points south of Broward’s Hallandale Beach because Nicole’s primary impacts will be felt further north. There are no storm surge watches or warnings for Miami-Dade.
Had the game been postponed, there would have been some logistical hurdles for the team and league to clear.
One possibility would be to push back Thursday’s tipoff to a later time if the Hornets are unable to travel to Miami until the morning of the game. The Hornets are also scheduled to face the Heat at FTX Arena on Saturday night as part of the teams’ set of consecutive games against each other in Miami.
Friday could be a possibility if Thursday’s game needs to be rescheduled, but there’s currently a concert scheduled for Friday night at FTX Arena. It would also be difficult to move Thursday’s contest to Sunday because that would have both teams playing a game on three straight nights, something the NBA tries to avoid, with the Heat hosting the Phoenix Suns and the Hornets traveling to face the Magic on Monday.
The Heat is scheduled to debut its new City Edition uniforms in Thursday’s game against the Hornets.
EARNING IMPORTANT MINUTES
Forward Max Strus and guard Gabe Vincent were the Heat’s two-way contract players two seasons ago. They have developed into go-to fourth-quarter options this season.
Strus and Vincent have played in the fourth quarter in each of the Heat’s first 11 games this season.
Strus is averaging the fourth-most fourth-quarter minutes on the roster at 9.3 per game and Vincent is averaging the third-most fourth-quarter minutes on the roster at 9.4 minutes per game. The only Heat players averaging more fourth-quarter minutes than Strus and Vincent early this season are Bam Adebayo (10.6 per game) and Kyle Lowry (9.7 per game).
“The most important thing is earning the trust of everybody in the locker room,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier this week of Strus and Vincent. “Both of them are unique because they can shift back and forth to different roles and in both lineups seamlessly. They can play in the second unit and really spark that group and they both, because of their skill set as two-way players, they fit in with our starters, as well.
“Throughout the course of the game, I don’t even hesitate. I don’t think anything about it — playing them in different lineups. They have the institutional knowledge of how we do things and they’ve both improved in our program significantly in the last three years.”
INJURY REPORT
Heat starting guard Tyler Herro sat out Monday’s loss to the Trail Blazers after spraining his left ankle last week. It marked the first game he has missed this season.
But the Heat does not expect the ankle injury to keep Herro out for long.
“He tweaked his ankle in the Indiana game,” Spoelstra said on Monday of Herro. “He was able to finish the game, but you can see that he was just powering through. But he’s been making progress and that’s the important thing. It will be a short-term deal. How long that will be, I don’t know. But he’s already feeling a little bit better.”
Herro is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Hornets. Heat starting forward Caleb Martin (right quadriceps contusion) is also questionable.
The Heat will remain without Jamal Cain (G League assignment), Victor Oladipo (left knee tendinosis) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle impingement) on Thursday against the Hornets.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 10:37 AM.
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