Miami Heat Vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Jan. 24 Game Preview

The Miami Heat will play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers again on Jan. 24. This is an important game for both teams, but not for the same reasons. Miami needs to impress upon the rest of the league that it is a team that can overcome injuries and emerge as the favorite to win the Eastern Conference again. Cleveland needs to put this one in the win column for the fans, if for no other reason than to show LeBron James that the town can survive without him.

Chris Bosh is the only one of the "Big Three" that has played in all 15 games for the Heat and he has nice averages of 20.3 points and 8 rebounds per game. James is still leading the way at 29.8 points, 8 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game though. Then there is Dwyane Wade, who has really struggled to stay healthy, and has dropped to just 19.6 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting.

For Cleveland, the clear leader is now rookie Kyrie Irving, who is proving that he was worth the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He is averaging 17.4 points and 4.9 assists per game, but those numbers have continued to go up since he was injected into the starting lineup. He is flanked by Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao, who will both have to come up big in this game to get a win for the Cavs.

The starting lineup for the 6-9 Cavs is like Varejao at center, Jamison at power forward, Omri Casspi at small forward, Anthony Parker at shooting guard and Irving at points guard. For the 11-4 Heat, provided Wade gets healthy, it's Joel Anthony at center, Bosh at power forward, James at small forward, Wade at shooting guard and Mario Chalmers at point guard.

Game time on Tuesday, Jan. 24 is set at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Sources:
Miami Team Page
Cleveland Team Page