Heat at Cavaliers
Dwayne Wade will not be in action when he and his Miami teammates visit old friend LeBron James and a surging Cleveland squad on Wednesday. Wade has missed six straight games due to a hamstring issue and while he will travel to Cleveland to be with his team, he is not expected to play and on Tuesday took himself out of the upcoming All-Star Game. The Heat were 1-4 in their first five games since Wade was sidelined before rallying to produce a 109-95 win over the New York Knicks on Monday.
Miami won its first matchup with James - with whom it won two championships in four seasons - on Christmas Day, a result that sent the Cavaliers into a 2-10 tailspin. They've recovered in a big way, and Sunday's 120-105 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers served as their 13th win in 14 games. Cleveland's star trio of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for 82 points on 60.4 percent shooting as the Cavaliers won their 11th straight game when scoring at least 100 points.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, Sun Sports (Miami), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE HEAT (22-29): Hassan Whiteside was scoreless in eight minutes in the first matchup with the Cavaliers this season but the budding star has helped to transform the makeup in Miami with his rim-protecting ways and solid play on the offensive end. Whiteside continues to learn how to control his foul trouble after playing just 19 minutes and leaving following a technical foul against New York. "I think it's more so getting an understanding of the refs," Whiteside told the Miami Sun Sentinel. "Just talking to them and really letting me know what they're seeing."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (32-21): Cleveland hopes to see more performances like the one Love put forth Sunday, when he scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it would likely settle for some consistency on the part of the star forward. Of the Cavaliers' four games this month, Love has scored five points twice while shooting a combined 3-of-15 and has averaged 28 points on 53.1 percent shooting in the other two games. Love, who was 7-of-8 from 3-point range against Los Angeles, missed all four of his long-range attempts and had five rebounds - less than half his season average - in the loss at Miami earlier this season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Irving is shooting 50.6 percent overall and 45.3 percent from long distance at home this season.
2. Miami is 18-1 all-time when C Chris Bosh reaches the 30-point mark.
3. James has 6,107 career assists, needing eight more to pass John Havlicek and move into second place on the all-time list for NBA forwards.