Magic at Heat
One loss can drop a team from third to sixth in the tightly-clustered Eastern Conference and the Miami Heat are part of that four-team mix. The Heat will try to avoid back-to-back losses on Friday when they host the Orlando Magic, who have not had a lot of success trying to play spoiler of late.
Miami lost its grip on the No. 3 spot with a 112-88 loss at San Antonio on Wednesday and is trying to measure itself against the elite teams in the league. "We're trying to get to another level, and we're not quite there yet,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “We're going to keep on plugging away and keep on working at it. We've still got three weeks to get better, improve and get to our best version by the playoffs.” The Magic have dropped five in a row – all to teams battling for playoff position in the East. Orlando’s 118-102 setback in Detroit on Wednesday helped catapult the Pistons into the No. 8 spot in the conference, and the Magic will play seven of their final 11 games against East teams currently in the top nine.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), FSN Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (29-42): Orlando didn’t expect to be measuring its final months this season on individual progression but that is the way it has played out, and the organization had to be excited about second-year point guard Elfrid Payton’s performance on Wednesday. The 22-year-old came off the bench for the third straight game since returning from an elbow injury and delivered 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double of the season. “I’d much rather win than have that,” Payton told reporters of the accomplishment. “Losing (stinks). Forget triple-doubles.”
ABOUT THE HEAT (41-30): Miami is tied for fifth with the Charlotte Hornets, a half-game behind Boston and Atlanta, and all four teams are tied in the loss column. The lopsided nature of Wednesday’s loss allowed the Heat to play Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade just 25 minutes each, and keeping players healthy is key down the stretch. "We've been able to manage guys' minutes, Dwyane and Joe (Johnson),” Spoelstra told reporters. “Dwyane, I think he's getting stronger, moving better, more explosive as the season goes on. I love to see it. His conditioning level is going up to another level. Hopefully, we can remain healthy, but we'll make decisions as we need to.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat F Luol Deng (thigh bruise) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
2. Magic F Aaron Gordon is shooting 32.6 percent from the field in the last five games after shooting 61.1 in the previous five contests.
3. Miami has taken three straight in the series and will face Orlando three times in the final 11 contests.