Rockets at Heat
The Houston Rockets appear to have found their identity after a choppy start to the season. Houston has matched a season best with five consecutive wins entering Thursday's road contest against the Miami Heat and made an NBA record 26 3-pointers in Wednesday's 136-118 victory over the Washington Wizards.
James Harden drained six 3-pointers, Chris Paul buried five and Eric Gordon along with Gerald Green each made four in Houston's record-setting performance against the Wizards. Michael Carter-Williams hit No. 26 with 30.3 seconds left to surpass the mark set by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who made 25 against the Atlanta Hawks on March 3, 2017. The Heat have won back-to-back games and six of their past nine as they climb back from a slow start. Miami was dealt a blow Wednesday when point guard Goran Dragic underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined two months.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (16-14): Houston was three games below .500 at the 25-game mark but has turned around its fortunes quickly, capped by the stellar shooting performance against Washington. "We've had games where we hit a lot of 3s," Paul told reporters after the victory. "I had no clue we had that many until the fans started chanting 'three' every time we had the ball." The game against Miami is the lone road game during a six-game stretch and the Rockets are just 7-9 in away contests.
ABOUT THE HEAT (13-16): Dragic has been able to play in only 14 of 29 games due to his troublesome right knee and an earlier absence after getting the knee drained didn't clear up the issues. Dragic, who is averaging 15.3 points and 4.9 assists, missed the past three games before undergoing the procedure. "We feel good about the fact that there's a solution now," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "It was frustrating for him and all parties, trying to figure out what was going on. Goran is as dedicated as anybody, so he was around the building doing treatment around the clock. It just wasn't responding the way he wanted it to. He pushed it all the way until he realized that it wouldn't get better, and we went with this solution."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Rockets' victory in Miami last season was just their second in the past nine visits.
2. Heat SGs Josh Richardson (hip) and Tyler Johnson (migraine) are probable for Thursday's game, while SF Justise Winslow (ankle) is questionable.
3. Houston F James Ennis (hamstring) is slated to miss his fifth straight game.