Heat at Magic
The Miami Heat were nearly invincible at home until the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics knocked them off this week, but the road is a different story. The Heat will try to improve to .500 on the road when they visit the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Miami, which returns home for one game on Monday before embarking on a six-game trip that bridges the All-Star break, owned the best home record in the NBA before sandwiching a 113-92 victory over the Magic around losses to the Clippers and the Celtics and is blaming trouble on the defensive end for the losses. "We're working to get to a better level defensively, all across the board," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "It's not just our man, it's our transition defense and our zone. We're capable of it. We've had great moments in either scheme. Our lack of consistency has been the biggest challenge, the hurdle we've been trying to overcome. We'll get there." Miami did not have as much trouble on the defensive end in Monday's win over the Magic, which marked Orlando's fourth consecutive setback. "Obviously, we're not playing at a level that we know that we can," Orlando center Nikola Vucevic told reporters after that loss. "Start of games isn't good. The second half it was six (as a halftime deficit) and it jumps right back to 20. Obviously, that's bad, but the way it happens is just not us. It sucks and it's not the way we want it to be, but we've got four days to regroup, get some practice time in and get our rhythm back."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, FS Florida, NBA TV Canada
ABOUT THE HEAT (32-15): Power forward Bam Adebayo recorded a triple-double in Monday's win over the Magic with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and was named to his first All-Star team on Thursday along with swingman Jimmy Butler. Adebayo, 22, is averaging 16 points and 10.4 rebounds during a breakout campaign while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor. Butler, who will be making his fifth trip to the All-Star Game, averages 20.2 points and scored 20 or more in three of the last four contests, with the lone exception a 19-point outing against Orlando in which he went 7-of-11 from the field and handed out seven assists.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (21-27): Orlando had all week to practice after that Miami loss with a rare four consecutive nights off and came away from the loss with a plan for how to spend its time. "It doesn't really matter who we're playing against because it's really just about us now," Magic guard Evan Fournier told reporters. "These last four games, we have played in a way that we don't usually play. No attention to details and we don't have a max effort. It's not us - at least that's how I feel - and that's the most frustrating part. We're going to use these four days to refocus, try to move on and be the Magic again." Orlando shot 37.1 percent from the floor at Miami as Fournier struggled to 3-of-13, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic SG Terrence Ross is 10-of-43 from the floor over the last three games, including 5-of-27 from beyond the arc.
2. Heat rookie G Kendrick Nunn (Achilles) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.
3. Orlando breezed to a 105-85 home win over Miami on Jan. 3 as Ross knocked down six 3-pointers and scored a team-high 25 points.