Heat at Magic
THE STORY: The Miami Heat open a challenging three-game road
trip against Eastern Conference contenders by visiting the Orlando Magic
on Tuesday. Miami has the second-best record in the conference and
faces Orlando (third best), the Chicago Bulls (top record, Wednesday)
and the Philadelphia 76ers (fourth, Friday) before returning home to
face the Magic again Sunday. Orlando trails Miami by five games in the
Southeast Division and could tighten up the race by sweeping the two
games against the Heat.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV, SunSports (Heat), FS Florida (Magic)
ABOUT THE HEAT (31-9): Miami endured narrow escapes in its last two
contests – defeating the Atlanta Hawks by three points and needing to go
into overtime before notching a two-point win against the Indiana
Pacers. Dwyane Wade hit the game-winning basket with one-tenth of a
second left in the extra session and LeBron James made the game-tying
3-pointer in regulation time. The close calls raised Miami’s record to
6-2 in games decided by five points or less. The Heat were 6-14 in such
games last season.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (27-15): The NBA trading deadline is Thursday and
that means the situation involving center Dwight Howard will be at least
tentatively cleared up. The daily speculation has worn on coach Stan
Van Gundy and Orlando is known to be scouring offers. But it remains
unclear whether the franchise will deal Howard by the deadline or gamble
on a deep playoff run being enough to entice him to stay put. Howard is
averaging 21.1 points and a league-leading 15.0 rebounds.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1.
The teams have split two meetings this season – Howard had 25 points
and 24 rebounds in Orlando’s win and Wade had a game-high 27 points in
Miami’s victory.
2. Heat forward LeBron James has 17 games of
more than 30 points but is averaging only 21.0 points in two games
against the Magic.
3. Magic guard Jason Richardson (ankle) hopes to return after missing Sunday’s game against Indiana.