Spurs at Heat
THE STORY: The Miami Heat hosting the San Antonio Spurs loses a little luster when the news comes out that neither Manu Ginobili nor Dwyane Wade are likely to be on the floor for the matchup. Of course, LeBron James is still around. so that’s always fun. James and Chris Bosh will try to get the Heat back to their winning ways when they open a five-game homestand on Tuesday without Wade, whose latest injury is an ankle sprain suffered Friday at Denver. In a rare schedule quirk, Miami has had three full days off since that contest but Wade, who missed three previous games with a foot ailment, is still doubtful. San Antonio is leaning on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in the absence of Ginobili, who is out until next month with a broken left hand. The Spurs have yet to win on the road.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (San Antonio), SunSports (Miami)
ABOUT THE SPURS (9-4): San Antonio has gone 6-2 without Ginobili and is riding a three-game winning streak into Miami. The Spurs have actually raised their scoring average without the star guard, averaging 102 points in the last eight contests. Rookie forward Kawhi Leonard has picked up some of the slack and has joined the starting lineup the past three games. Duncan, who started off very slow, sparked Sunday’s 102-91 victory over Phoenix with a season-high 24 points and 11 rebounds.
ABOUT THE HEAT (8-4): Three straight losses and all of a sudden Miami finds itself in third place in the Southeast Division. The Heat probably won’t be concerning themselves much with the standings, focusing instead on the average of 107.7 points they allowed in the losses. James has shouldered the scoring load while Wade deals with injuries, but Miami has not been able to stop teams in transition. The Heat allowed the Nuggets to shoot 55 percent in Friday’s 117-104 loss.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. James has averaged 27.9 points in 15 career games against the Spurs.
2. Duncan (21,829 points) moved into 26th place on the all-time scoring list Sunday.
3. The teams split two meetings last season, with each winning at home. San Antonio has taken six of the last eight overall.