The Miami Heat will take on Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards on Friday in their first In-Season Tournament game.
Ahead of the matchup, the Heat have announced that they will be rolling with a brand-new starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
The Heat have had a rough start to the season from a collective standpoint, particularly for a team that is fresh off an NBA Finals appearance. Miami owns a poor 1-4 record, the worst record in the Eastern Conference right now.
The team’s four losses so far this season have come against the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
Arguably the Heat’s most embarrassing loss of the season to this point was against the Nets on Nov. 1. Miami owned an eight-point lead heading into the fourth and final quarter against Brooklyn but lost by a score of 109-105 after being outscored 34-22 in the final frame.
The play of Herro has been one of the few bright spots for a Heat team that has struggled out of the gate. The 23-year-old guard is averaging 26.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from behind the 3-point line in five appearances with the Heat.
Herro had his best game of the season against the Bucks on Oct. 30. He finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 42 minutes of playing time. Also, he knocked down 12 of his 21 shots from the field, including two of his five shots from beyond the arc.
The Heat have the talent advantage over the Wizards — who own nearly as poor of a record as Miami at 1-3 — and thus should be able to earn their second win of the season on Friday. Heat fans should be excited to see how the team performs in its first In-Season Tournament game of the season.