Jazz at Heat
For one night at least, Dwyane Wade gave his teammates some hope that life without Chris Bosh may not be so bad. Asking the veteran to provide the same output when the Miami Heat host the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday may be asking too much. Wade put up 28 points in a 95-91 win at Brooklyn on Tuesday, a day after the team learned that Bosh (calf) will be out indefinitely and Josh McRoberts (knee) is likely done for the season.
Wade scored 29 in Utah on Friday, when the Heat posted a 100-95 victory, and is averaging 24.7 in the last three games. That loss kicked off a three-game slide for the Jazz, who began their road trip by falling in Washington on Sunday before being run off the court in the fourth quarter at New Orleans on Tuesday. Utah held a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter Tuesday only to be outscored 41-22 in the final period and lose 119-111.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (6-19): Utah has dropped 12 of its last 13 games but took some positives away from Tuesday, when Enes Kanter scored 29 points and the team shot 50 percent from the field. “I think there were so many good things about the way we played (Tuesday) — we really connected and had exchanges and possessions where we were able to execute a lot of the things we’ve been working on,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. Utah scored 68 points in the paint despite forward Derrick Favors (ankle) missing his second straight game.
ABOUT THE HEAT (12-13): Wade has played in two sets of back-to-backs since returning from a hamstring injury Nov. 30 and put up 20 points in the first back end before slumping to 10 points at Denver on Dec. 10 after scoring 16 in a win at Phoenix the previous night. The 32-year-old was needed for 36 minutes on Tuesday and Luol Deng played 41 as the Nets stormed back in the fourth quarter to make it a close game. Deng has played at least 33 minutes in three straight games and is averaging 16.3 points in that span.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Jazz C Rudy Gobert, who had nine points and 11 rebounds against the Heat on Friday, could get his third straight start in place of Favors.
2. Miami F Danny Granger (illness) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.
3. Utah F Gordon Hayward is 3-of-22 from 3-point range over the last five games.