It’s time for Basketball: Spurs vs Heat in Mexico City

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The Spurs came back to earth on Wednesday night with a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, as they were unable to contain Damian Lillard who killed the team on pick and roll plays. Tonight, they are looking to get back up, but in Mexico City, with an altitude of over 7,300 feet, they will have to get way up to compete against the Heat this afternoon. The Mexico City Arena, where they’re playing is over 2,000 feet higher than Denver, but unlike Colorado, both teams had to travel to play there tonight, and since both the Heat and the Spurs home arenas are close to sea level, there shouldn’t be a significant advantage for either team. Both teams arrived in the city a few days before tipoff, so hopefully they’ll be somewhat acclimated to the thin air.

The Spurs beat the Heat last Saturday 115-111, with a 4:00 pm start time. Exactly one week later, they’re in a different arena for a rematch. The play of Zach Collins was key last week, as he contained Bam Adebayo, holding him to 12 points despite (or maybe because of) fouling out late in the game. Tyler Herro was held somewhat in check last week with 23 points, but he’s gone nuclear since then, and the Spurs will have trouble containing him and Jimmy Butler. The possible return of Jakob Poeltl to the lineup tonight should be a plus tonight, and with both Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson available, the Spurs should have enough offensive firepower to make this an interesting contest.

Today’s game is on NBATV, which means if you paid for league pass, you’re still not able to watch the game, unless you also paid for NBATV, a policy which seems really unfair to the people who paid for NBALP already. It’s also on KENS5, for those of you in the San Antonio area. Let’s have fun, and vamos Spurs.

Game Prediction:

A member of the mariachi band playing the arena will be added to the Heat as an emergency backup, due to them listing all 15 players on the roster on the injury report.

One final word:

Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!

San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat
December 17, 2022 | 4:00 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass (only if you subscribe to NBATV)
TV: KENS5 [Dare I say it: I miss Bally Sports]

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