Magic at Heat
The Miami Heat have been concerned about the team defense most of the season but showed what it was capable of on that end in a 105-89 win over the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. The Heat will try to keep the intensity up and push the winning streak to four in a row when they host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Miami held the Bucks to their season low and controlled the 3-point line, limiting Milwaukee to 7-of-34 from beyond the arc, while frustrating superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo into a 6-of-18 performance. "We've had moments like tonight," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the victory. "I'm not saying we can hold great offensive teams to under 90 points every time, it's not realistic. But we have it in us, a better version defensively where we can do it more consistently." The Magic are searching for the better defensive version of themselves as well after getting blown out 130-107 at home by the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. "The thing that is frustrating is that we haven't been playing defense for a few games now, and every game is different, but tonight it was as if there was nothing there," Orlando guard Evan Fournier told reporters.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, FS Sun
ABOUT THE MAGIC (27-34): Orlando is trying to earn a playoff spot and goes into play on Tuesday percentage points ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference and four games clear of the ninth-place Washington Wizards, but knows it needs to pick things up on the defensive end to secure a spot. "We're better offensively, but we haven't made strides defensively," Magic coach Steve Clifford told reporters after Monday's setback. "We're not good enough offensively to beat the best offensive teams trying to outscore them. And if we don't start defending - forget seventh - it's going to be hard to make the playoffs." Orlando is without two of its better frontcourt defenders in Jonathan Isaac (knee) and Al-Farouq Aminu (knee) for the rest of the regular season and missed starting power forward Aaron Gordon (knee) on Monday.
ABOUT THE HEAT (39-22): Miami, which owns two wins over the Bucks, is focused finding the level of play that it showed on Monday consistently over the final 21 games and into the postseason so that it can compete with the likes of Milwaukee in a seven-game series. "Maybe it is just matchups," All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler told reporters. "But I think anyone can be beaten on any given day. Let's not sit here and pretend. We made some shots and got some shots. They missed some shots. It helps. ... We take away from this that we can compete at the highest level, but we know we have to play this way every day from here on out." Butler collected 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the win and knocked down one of the team's 18 3-pointers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic scored 30 points on Monday - his first 30-plus effort since Nov. 17.
2. Heat rookie SG Duncan Robinson knocked down at least one 3-pointer in each of his last 46 games.
3. Miami took the last two meetings, most recently earning a 102-89 victory at Orlando on Feb. 1.