Miami visits Portland after Simons' 43-point showing

Posted January 04, 2022 6:00 am

By The Associated Press

Miami Heat (23-14, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (13-22, 12th in the Western Conference)

Portland, Oregon; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Portland hosts the Miami Heat after Anfernee Simons scored 43 points in the Trail Blazers' 136-131 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Trail Blazers have gone 12-9 in home games. Portland has a 9-15 record against teams over .500.

The Heat are 11-11 in road games. Miami is seventh in the Eastern Conference scoring 107.9 points per game and is shooting 45.9%.

TOP PERFORMERS: Damian Lillard is averaging 24 points and 7.3 assists for the Trail Blazers. Norman Powell is averaging 20.6 points over the last 10 games for Portland.

Tyler Herro is scoring 19.8 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Heat. Max Strus is averaging 20.3 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 50.0% over the past 10 games for Miami.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trail Blazers: 3-7, averaging 111.2 points, 42.7 rebounds, 21.8 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.9 points per game.

Heat: 7-3, averaging 109.9 points, 45.9 rebounds, 25.1 assists, 6.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.4 points.

INJURIES: Trail Blazers: Anfernee Simons: out (health and safety protocols), Cody Zeller: out (health and safety protocols), Cameron McGriff: out (health and safety protocols), Damian Lillard: out (rest), Trendon Watford: out (health and safety protocols), CJ McCollum: out (lung), Robert Covington: out (health and safety protocols), Keljin Blevins: out (health and safety protocols), Brandon Williams: out (health and safety protocols).

Heat: Victor Oladipo: out (right knee), Marcus Garrett: out (health and safety protocols), Dewayne Dedmon: out (knee), Markieff Morris: out (neck), Duncan Robinson: out (health and safety protocols), Udonis Haslem: out (health protocols), KZ Okpala: out (wrist), Max Strus: out (health protocols), Bam Adebayo: out (thumb), Gabe Vincent: out (health and safety protocols).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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