Nets at Heat
The Miami Heat are hoping that rock bottom has hit and there is nowhere to go but up. The Heat will try to bounce back from a 36-point loss when they host the Brooklyn Nets in the second night of a back-to-back on Sunday. Miami has dropped four straight while averaging 106.5 points allowed after falling 115-79 at Houston on Saturday to suffer its biggest loss of the season.
The Nets are one of the few teams against which the Heat have enjoyed success of late, earning a 95-91 win at Brooklyn on Dec. 16 – one of their five victories in the last 18 games. The Nets dropped two more after that game before turning it around with six wins in their last seven games and are trying to climb above .500 for the first time since Nov. 12. Brooklyn held off a late rally to pick up a 102-100 win in Orlando on Friday and is looking to sweep a three-game road trip in Miami after beginning the excursion with a 96-82 pasting of the Chicago Bulls.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE NETS (16-16): Mason Plumlee and Brook Lopez are forming one of the more productive inside tandems in the league, no matter which one gets the start. Plumlee began to get more playing time when Lopez was battling back from an injury and has maintained his strong play with Lopez picking up bigger minutes. Lopez took the lead with 29 points against Chicago and the two combined for 34 points on 16-of-18 shooting at Orlando while posting a total of 17 rebounds as Lopez took light duty with 17 minutes off the bench and Plumlee worked with the starters.
ABOUT THE HEAT (14-20): The combination of Plumlee and Lopez should be trouble for Miami, which is last in the NBA in rebounding and was beaten up by Dwight Howard on the inside at Houston on Saturday. The one positive from Saturday’s blowout is that none of the Heat’s starters logged more than 18 minutes with the game out of hand early in the second half. Chris Bosh, who is enduring his first back-to-back since missing eight games in a row with a calf strain, scored 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 18 minutes against the Rockets.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat G Dwyane Wade had a string of eight straight games scoring 20 or more points come to an end when he was held to 15 on Saturday.
2. Brooklyn is 6-1 since moving Jarrett Jack to the starting point guard spot.
3. Miami has taken four straight in the series, including the final two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals last spring.