Heat at Wizards
The Miami Heat will need two victories and a little help if they hope to lay claim to the top seed in the Eastern Conference and homecourt advantage throughout the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs. They'll look to handle their end of the process beginning Monday as they visit the Washington Wizards, who also have something left to play for. The Wizards can claim fifth in the East with two wins and a pair of losses by the Brooklyn Nets.
Miami finds itself in must-win mode after dropping a 98-85 decision to the host Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, losing handily despite welcoming Dwyane Wade back to the lineup. Wade, who missed nine straight games with a hamstring injury, had 24 points in his return. The Heat need to win their final two games against Washington and Philadelphia, along with an Indiana loss Wednesday in Orlando, to land the No. 1 seed.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE HEAT (54-26): It's rare for LeBron James to wear a big smile after a double-digit loss, but that was the scene Saturday after he watched Wade connect on 10-of-14 shots from the field in an efficient 23 minutes of action. While James expressed satisfaction that Wade didn't suffer a setback, head coach Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald that the veteran guard was eager to return. "He's been doing a lot of work behind the scenes," Spoelstra said. "He probably felt like he should have been cleared a week ago, but we wanted to be very patient with him."
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (42-38): Washington may have its sights set on catching the Nets but needs to be wary of the Bobcats, who own the tiebreaker and can snag the No. 6 spot if they win one more game than the Wizards the rest of the way. Point guard John Wall says Washington can only worry about its own business moving forward. "Since (Charlotte) lost the other night we have to keep winning," he told the Washington Post. "So we're just trying to go out and play the right way and finish and keep our heads going the right way."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Miami leads the season series 2-1, with the home team prevailing each time.
2. Washington's win over Milwaukee secured its first winning season since 2007-08.
3. The Wizards have won just four of 14 meetings with the Heat since James signed with Miami.