Jimmy Butler’s Heat will face Keldon Johnson’s Spurs in the first NBA Mexico City Game since 2019.
The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat are set to tip off in Mexico City on Saturday (5 ET, NBA TV), marking the 30th anniversary of the NBA’s Mexico games. Here are eight things to know about the upcoming matchup south of the border:
Form check
The Spurs currently sit at 9-19, 14th in the Western Conference. After a tough 11-game losing streak, they managed to string together three consecutive wins against the Rockets, Heat and Cavaliers. While they lost their last contest to the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, they’ll be well-rested as they head to take on the Heat in Mexico City.
The Heat have played up and down basketball all season, and now find themselves slotted in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with a 15-15 record. They haven’t quite found their stride in 2022-23, failing to win more than three games in a row through 30 games.
But they hope to overcome this in Mexico City as they seek their fourth straight win against the Spurs.
Injury bug
Both teams have been dealing with their fair share of injuries this season.
During the 2022-23 season, Heat players have missed the second-most games (109) and Spurs players have missed the eighth-most games (80), according to Spotrac.
There’s no doubt that injuries have played a role in the Heat’s streaky start with Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent all missing significant time.
The Spurs rotation has taken a hit as well. Jakob Poeltl has missed eight games, and Zach Collins, Josh Richardson and Devin Vassell have missed a combined 24 games.
Youth movement in San Antonio
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell are proving to be an emerging duo for the Spurs
Forwards Keldon Johnson, 23, and Devin Vassell, 22, continue to steadily improve during their young careers in San Antonio.
Johnson has become a reliable scorer for the Spurs, increasing his scoring average by at least three points every season from 9.1 points per game his rookie year to 21.0 in 2022-23.
Devin Vassell has improved each year of his three-year career, increasing his scoring average by almost seven points each season, as well as making leaps in assists per game, 3-point percentage and field goal percentage. At this point in the season, he ranks fifth among qualified third-year players in scoring (20.2) and 3-point shooting (41.1%).
Jimmy’s back
Jimmy Butler is back from injury and is already making an impact upon his return.
After missing seven games due to a right knee injury, Jimmy Butler made his return to the Heat lineup against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 2. He made his presence felt immediately.
The Heat forward made two buckets in the final minute of the fourth quarter and hit a dagger in overtime with just 9.1 seconds left on the clock, handing the Celtics a crushing defeat.
In six games since his return, Butler has averaged 23.2 points on 60.7% shooting.
Low-scoring battle in store?
The Heat and the Spurs have been two of the NBA’s lowest-scoring teams this season. The Heat are averaging 108.0 points (29th), and the Spurs aren’t much better at 110.2 (27th).
Although this may seem surprising, the Heat — a team that made the Eastern Conference finals last season in part thanks to 3-point shooting — are typically not a high-scoring team. Last season, the Heat were 17th in the NBA at 110.0 points per game.
Instead, the Heat’s identity is on the defensive side of the ball. They are seventh in defensive rating (110.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) and give up the fifth-fewest points per game at 109.2.
Perhaps the Heat’s offensive woes come from their 3-point shooting. While they attempt the eighth-most 3-pointers per game (36.3), they shoot just 34.2% (21st).
Each of their top five volume 3-point shooters’ percentages have gone down from last season. Max Strus (7.5%), Gabe Vincent (7.1%) and Duncan Robinson (6.3%) have all seen theirs drop significantly.
The Spurs are 29th in the NBA in offensive rating, which should be a tough matchup for the Heat’s vaunted defensive squad, but neither of these teams score at a high clip, so a low-scoring matchup may be in store.
Bam’s play
Bam Adebayo is having a strong start to his 2022-23 campaign.
Bam Adebayo is having a stellar start to his season, averaging a career-high 20.6 points as he only continues to improve in his sixth year.
There are only four other players in the NBA who average more than 20 points and 9 rebounds per game while shooting better than 50% from the floor: Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic. Adebayo is playing himself into elite territory.
On the defensive side, he anchors a Heat’s fierce defense that is allowing the NBA’s second-fewest points in the paint (45.6).
Previous matchups
In their last 20 matchups, the Spurs are 13-7 against the Heat, including 11 straight wins between 2014 and 2017, during which they racked up a plus-166 point differential.
This includes the three games in a row that the Spurs won over the Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals. Since then, Miami has dominated the head-to-head with a 7-2 record.
The two teams last matched up on Dec. 10 which the Spurs won 115-111.
A pair of late-game buckets from Devin Vassell locked up the win on the 26th anniversary of Greg Popovich’s first game as a head coach.
The Spurs have played in the Global Games seven times, with six games in Mexico City and one in Paris.
Notable performances include Kawhi Leonard dropping 38 points on the Suns in 2017 and Gary Neal hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in a 2010 preseason win over the Clippers.
The Heat have played in 14 Global Games, although just one has come during the regular season. They’ve taken their talents all over the world, dropping in on Mexico, Brazil, China, France, England, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
They won their only regular season game and have a 6-7 record in preseason games.
