Thunder Gameday: OKC Heads to South Beach to Take on the Miami Heat

Oklahoma City will face Miami on Wednesday night in the first of two matchups throughout the season.

The Thunder is slated to face on the Miami Heat Tuesday night, marking their first meeting of the season.

A fully healthy Oklahoma City team – pending Davis Bertans' status – will take on a fairly depleted Miami starting lineup, as Jimmy Butler remains sidelined with Caleb Martin and Kyle Lowry both listed as game-time decisions. 

The Thunder looks to snap a six-game losing streak to the Heat, a team that sits 2-3 in their last five contests. 

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

ODDS:

The Thunder enter the day as 3.5-point favorites against the Heat, and the total over/under is 229.5 points.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

This will be the fifth consecutive contest without Butler for the Heat, who's played just 24 of the 36 games they've played this season.

In his absence, Jaime Jaquez Jr. has had to step up immensely as a rookie, supplanting Butler in the starting lineup in each night he's missed.

Limiting Jaquez's offensive versatility, shutting down Tyler Herro's ability to self create and hindering Bam Adebayo from dominating the boards should be prime facets to hone in on for Oklahoma City.  

Conversely, Miami will look to retain the Thunder's ability to run the floor while restricting its turnovers – as Oklahoma City leads the entire league in points off turnovers with 20, and sits sixth in fast break points with 16.2.

This is the first night of a back-to-back for the Thunder, and the second night of a back-to-back for the Heat.

The Thunder's one day of rest on Tuesday could be a helping factor to their performance against a banged up and tired Heat team on Tuesday night, but Miami could rally behind its home court in spite of that.

Currently, the Heat hold the same record at home, 10-6, as Oklahoma City does on the road.

RECORDS:

Oklahoma City Thunder (24-11) vs. Miami Heat (21-15)

INJURIES:

Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.

WHEN:

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 at 6:30 PM CT

LOCATION:

Kaseya Center - Miami, FL

TV/RADIO:

Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD:

Oklahoma City has taken three years worth of defeats from Miami since 2020, going 0-6 in that time frame. 

Now, as the Thunder have returned to the upper echelon of the Western Conference once more, the matchup is an a much more level playing field – and Oklahoma City hopes it'll unfold differently on Thursday night.

Next, the Thunder return home to face the Portland Trail Blazers at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday inside Paycom Center.

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