Trail Blazers at Heat
The Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers don't look like teams that are peaking heading into the postseason. Both playoff-bound squads have lost seven of their last 11 games and need a momentum-building victory when they square off Monday in Miami. The Heat remain firmly entrenched as the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference — three games behind Indiana — while the Trail Blazers have slid to fifth in the West.
Both teams are coming off ugly road losses. The Heat have been lackluster on defense too often of late and allowed New Orleans to shoot 51.2 percent in a 105-95 loss Saturday. "Yes, our locker room is angry. Yes, our locker room is frustrated, as rightly we should be," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "We're not accustomed to this type of play, these type of standards, particularly on the defensive end." The Trail Blazers have won three of their last five following a season-high four-game skid, but they opened their five-game East Coast road trip with a 124-94 clunker at Charlotte.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Northwest (Portland), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (45-25): Leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge (23.4 points, 11.1 rebounds) is expected to miss his sixth straight game with a bruised lower back. Portland had held its own without him until suffering its most lopsided loss of the season against the Bobcats. Without Aldridge, the Trail Blazers will have to rely more on point guard Damian Lillard, who is tied for second in the league with 189 3-pointers, surpassing his own franchise record from a year ago.
ABOUT THE HEAT (47-21): LeBron James keeps producing — he has hit double figures in scoring in 560 consecutive games — but he hasn't always had much help. The Heat should be at full strength after a night off, meaning guard Dwyane Wade and center Greg Oden should be in the lineup. Miami is 4-0 when Oden — the injury-prone former Trail Blazer — is in the starting lineup.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by single digits, including Miami's 108-107 at Portland on Dec. 28.
2. Lillard has scored 20 or more points in eight consecutive games, matching the longest streak of his career.
3. Miami SG Ray Allen needs two 3-pointers to eclipse 100 for the 17th season, an NBA record.