Heat at Trail Blazers
The Miami Heat are stumbling with losses in three straight and seven of the last 10 games to fall into the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Heat will need to solve their problems in some tough places to play as they begin a six-game road trip by visiting the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
Miami, which just dropped three straight at home, will go through Sacramento, Golden State, Denver and Dallas leading into the All-Star break before coming out of the break at Philadelphia on Feb. 21. "I don't have the exact answer; to lose three in a row at home is tough," veteran guard Dwyane Wade told reporters after a 95-88 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. "It's a lot of things. You have got to figure it out. I told the guys in the locker room it doesn't get any easier. This road trip is the toughest stretch of the season. We have to figure out a way to get out of frustration and play free of the mind." The Trail Blazers are winners of three in a row and six of seven and should be well-rested after last taking the floor in a 132-105 home drubbing of the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. Portland scored at least 120 points in each of the last three games and five of the last seven.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HEAT (24-27): Miami fell by 16 points to lowly Chicago to open the homestand on Wednesday and was rocked 118-102 by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday before falling to Indiana the next night. "You are constantly searching and digging and grinding for solutions and that's where we are right now," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the latest loss. "I want everybody to get away from this building (Sunday). There are always ebbs and flows of a season. We have not played well for three games. But we have a great opportunity to get our act together and game together and get comfortable again. There is no better place to do that than the road." Miami center Hassan Whiteside went 9-of-13 from the floor on Saturday but the rest of the starters were a combined 7-of-22.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (32-20): Portland point guard Damian Lillard will be taking the floor for the first time since being named to his fourth All-Star team on Thursday. "Damian is a special player and person," Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey told reporters. "Being recognized by the coaches who prepare to play against him validates what all of us in Portland have the privilege of experiencing every day as a leader in the locker room and on the court." Lillard sat out the first of the four-game homestand against Atlanta on Jan. 26 to rest a sore knee but returned against Utah on Wednesday and collected 36 points and 11 assists in 37 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat SG Dion Waiters went 7-of-32 from the floor over the last four games.
2. The Trail Blazers acquired SG Rodney Hood from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday in exchange for Gs Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin IV and two second-round draft picks.
3. Portland suffered a 120-111 loss at Miami despite 42 points from Lillard on Oct. 27.