Trail Blazers at Heat
After getting a much-needed victory against LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat continue their postseason push Wednesday when the Portland Trail Blazers visit. The Heat, who have won five of their last six home games, are in a three-way tie with Boston and Indiana for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 32 points in the first half and Goran Dragic added 20 and nine assists in the 106-92 triumph over Cleveland.
"We understand what the playoff race is right now. It felt like an old Miami Heat game with normal Miami Heat huddles,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters of the Cleveland contest. "Guys were screaming at each other - lot of passion in this game - and it was much-needed.” Portland is 1-1 on its five-game road trip that ends in Memphis on Saturday, and then the Blazers head out for two more road games after a home encounter with Golden State next Tuesday. Portland, currently sitting in the third spot, is 2 1/2 games ahead of fifth-place Dallas for home court in the first round of the playoffs.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), CSN North West (Portland)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (44-21): Portland closed a 25-point deficit to three before dropping a 105-97 decision to Washington on Monday, just its second loss in 10 games. ”We’ve got a couple of days to rest and three more games on this road trip, so we just got to get ready to steal one in Miami,” guard Damian Lillard told reporters. Arron Afflalo is averaging 13.4 points on 38.6 percent shooting and just 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 30.2 minutes since replacing injured Wesley Matthews in the starting lineup.
ABOUT THE HEAT (30-36): With 16 points and 11 rebounds, Hassan Whiteside posted his 13th double-double in his last 20 games as Miami improved to 2-0 at home against James this season. Dwyane Wade is in the midst of his best stretch in several years, scoring 25 or more points in six straight games, averaging 28.7 points on 54.4 percent shooting, and 4.5 assists. The last time Wade put together six consecutive games of 25 points was 2010.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Lillard averaged 22.2 points on 45.8 percent shooting, including 38.7 from beyond the arc, as Portland jumped to a 30-8 record to start the season; he has averaged 20 points on 39.9 percent shooting, and just 28.8 percent from the arc, during the Blazers 14-13 stretch since.
2. The Heat’s .213 win-percentage decrease this season is the fourth largest in the NBA behind Minnesota (.273), New York (.254) and Indiana (.221).
3. After averaging 7.6 points on 32.5 percent shooting over 29.5 minutes in five starts, Miami F Henry Walker returned to the bench against Cleveland and scored three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 24 minutes.