Heat at Rockets
The one good thing about playing back-to-back games in the NBA is the chance to quickly wipe away a bad performance from a team’s memory. The Houston Rockets will try to do just that when they host the Miami Heat on Saturday. The Rockets went into New Orleans on Friday and suffered their largest defeat of the season, 111-83, as James Harden was limited to 11 points and they were thoroughly beaten on both ends of the floor.
The good news is that fatigue should not be an issue as the starters and top reserves got most of the second half off with Houston already in a big hole, as no one on the team logged more than 27 minutes in the loss. The Heat are in the midst of their own slump with losses in three straight and six of eight but are at least getting healthier as Chris Bosh works his way back into game shape. The All-Star forward is averaging 19 points and eight rebounds in two games back after missing eight in a row with a calf strain.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), ROOT Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE HEAT (14-19): Miami began a stretch of seven of eight on the road with a 106-95 loss at Indiana on Wednesday and is focusing on the small things. “It’s more about our mindset right now, to not really get overwhelmed with the results even though it’s a results-based league,” coach Eric Spoelstra told reporters. “You have to focus on controlling things from here on, and our first approach was (Friday) in practice correcting some specific things, details of where we need to get better and where we need to improve.” One area in need of improvement is on the glass, where the Heat rank last in the NBA in rebounding average.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (22-10): Houston has dropped three of its last four games – a stretch that coincides with Josh Smith being inserted into the starting lineup. The divisive forward scored all eight of his points on Friday in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand and is averaging 5.3 points while going 9-of-31 from the field in the last four contests. Coach Kevin McHale subbed out his entire starting lineup less than two minutes into the third quarter on Friday with the team already down 23 points and left most of them on the bench the rest of the way.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Rockets took the first meeting 108-91 on Nov. 4 behind 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds from Harden.
2. Miami G Dwyane Wade has scored at least 20 points in each of his last eight games.
3. Houston F Trevor Ariza is 4-of-25 from 3-point range over the last four games.