Heat at Celtics
If Miami winds up missing the playoffs, it may point to Tuesday in Milwaukee as a big reason why. The Heat look to recover from a painful loss to the Bucks when they visit Boston on Wednesday in a game that puts the back end of the Eastern Conference playoff race on center stage. Looking to inch closer to sixth-place Milwaukee, Miami blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before falling on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by the Bucks, dropping to 0-2 on its current four-game road trip.
The eighth-place Celtics, who trail the Heat by a game, are expecting injured guard Isaiah Thomas to return from a back injury that has robbed him of eight games. Thomas averaged 21.4 points in 27.6 minutes as a reserve in his first 10 games with Boston, but the Celtics have gone 5-3 without him, including a 110-91 win at Brooklyn on Monday. Evan Turner had his second triple-double with 19 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds and five others scored in double figures for Boston.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE HEAT (32-38): While Boston gets a key player back in time for this important matchup, Miami will have to wait and see on center Hassan Whiteside, who left Tuesday's loss after suffering a laceration to his hand. The cut, which was between two fingers, required 10 stitches and kept the breakout big man out for the entire second half. Whiteside had 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the Heat's last visit to Boston on Feb. 1, which resulted in an 83-75 win.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (31-39): Turner had a 1-of-6 showing from the floor in the first game after Thomas' injury, but has done plenty to help carry the squad ever since. Overall, he has averaged 14.4 points on 51.6 percent shooting and 7.1 assists in the eight-game stretch while Thomas has recovered. Thomas scored 25 points and Brandon Bass added 14 and 10 rebounds to help Boston pick up a 100-90 win in Miami on March 9, Thomas' last game.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat PG Goran Dragic is averaging 17.3 points on 53.8 percent shooting in seven games since returning from a back injury that kept him out of the previous game against Boston.
2. Celtics C Kelly Olynyk had 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting against Brooklyn after shooting 1-of-15 over his previous two games.
3. Heat SG Dwyane Wade has reached the 20-point mark in nine of his last 10 games.