Cavaliers vs. Heat: game preview, start time, television information

The Cleveland Cavaliers ended a three game road trip and have moved on from the end of the Honeymoon and onto the bottle flip challenge. Like most well meaning of Uncles the Cavs seem to be about a month behind on the memes but the have restored a 1.5 game lead atop the Eastern Conference after a 32 point blow out of the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

Up next for Cavs? A meeting with LeBron’s former team and I don’t know, maybe the Cavs will try Pokemon Go in the fourth quarter.

Who: Miami Heat (7-15) at Cleveland Cavaliers (15-5)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: Quicken Loans Arena - Cleveland, Ohio

TV: Fox Sports Ohio, NBA League Pass

Enemy Blog: Hot Hot Hoops

Music: Chubb Rock - I’m Too Much (Hands on the Sax Mix)

• Injuries: The Heat are struggling to start the season. They’ve put together just seven wins in the first quarter of the season and are currently playing without Justice Winslow, Josh Richardson, and Dion Waiters, all due to injury. For Cleveland, J.R. Smith also remains questionable following a left knee contusion in Toronto on Monday.
• Awkard: The Heat have won 14 of the past 17 games against Cleveland. But the last remaining teammate from the Heat’s 2014 playoff run is Udonis Haslem. That takes a lot of the wind out of this Cavs-Heat matchup. With Dion on the bench, this game is just kind of a basketball game on a Friday night.
• Heat Check: Tyler Johnson is third on the depth chart at shooting guard in Miami but that didn’t stop him from putting up 27 points in a loss to the Hawks on Wednesday. The third year guard from Fresno State could be looking to try a repeat performance.
• But You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance: While the Heat are without 3 of the 6 players at the top of their rotation, they still have Hassan Whiteside, who is averaging 17.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks. The Cavaliers drive and kick heavy offense has struggled against the NBA’s best big men (although Kristaps Porzingis did not stop a 22 three pointer game in New York). Still, look out for Whiteside in the paint. We will see if Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love can contain Whiteside.
• GIF: Cool.

Fear the Sword’s Fearless Prediction

Unless the Cavaliers catch a bug on a day’s rest and a night bottle flipping in New York, I don’t expect them to be challenged by an injury-ridden Miami team on a three game losing streak. I’d expect the Cavaliers to take care of the Heat early 112-98. Here’s hoping LeBron at least takes Spoelstra, Waiters, and Haslem out for Swensons.