Heat at Nets
The Brooklyn Nets received relatively good news on injured guard Caris LeVert and will try to press on without him when they host the Miami Heat on Wednesday. LeVert suffered a gruesome foot injury during Monday's 120-113 loss at Minnesota that initially looked like a season-ender, but the team announced Tuesday that the cornerstone of the franchise's rebuild will not need surgery and could return this season.
Brooklyn still needs to endure a period of time without its leader in scoring (18.4 points per game) and steals (1.21), and it carries a two-game losing streak into Wednesday's affair. "I just think it's a devastating blow for us, for him. That's all I really want to say about this," coach Kenny Atkinson said after Monday's loss. "Our thoughts should be with him and his recovery. And I really don't want to talk about the game or anything else." The Heat have their own problems to deal with having lost three straight and six of their last eight. They capped a 1-3 homestand with a 124-114 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, the eighth time in the last nine games Miami has allowed at least 110 points.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE HEAT (5-8): Miami gave up 32 points in each of the first three quarters in Monday's loss as defensive issues continue to be an issue for a team that is searching for some answers. "It's time. It's definitely time to start looking in the mirror," guard Josh Richardson told reporters. "It shouldn't have gotten to this point but it's definitely time to start cracking down and problem-solving." Point guard Goran Dragic provided a bright spot with 22 points, which comes on heels of 21 scoreless minutes -- on 0-of-7 shooting -- in a loss to Washington and two games on the sidelines with a foot issue.
ABOUT THE NETS (6-8): Guard D'Angelo Russell will assume more of the scoring responsibility while LeVert is on the mend, and the former of the two enters this uncertain stretch on a good note after making a career-high nine 3-pointers in the loss to the Timberwolves. Russell is averaging 19 points while making 38.1 percent from beyond the arc this month and has exactly two steals in each of his last four contests. Forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made his first start of the season at Minnesota and finished with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 27 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Richardson is 6-for-7 from 3-point distance over his last two games.
2. Nets PF Ed Davis is averaging 9.8 rebounds in 19.5 minutes over a four-game span.
3. Miami won the first of four meetings last season before Brooklyn claimed the final three.