Cavaliers at Heat
The Miami Heat are getting hot at the right time and can now look forward to a long homestand, beginning Friday night against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers. The Heat, who have won three in a row at home after opening the season 11-18 there, are coming off a 91-84 win at Charlotte, one of their chief competitors in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Kelly Olynyk stayed hot with 22 points and 11 rebounds to pace Miami, which owns a one-game lead over the Hornets and the Orlando Magic for eighth place. "At this point, who cares about the record?" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "Come on, we're in a playoff race right now. Everybody feels alive in that locker room. This is fun. This is a great time of the year. This is great for our guys." The Cavaliers have long been out of the playoff race and didn't do Miami any favors by losing at seventh-place Brooklyn 113-107 on Wednesday. Cleveland has lost all three meetings with the Heat this season by an average of 18.3 points and it has dropped 15 straight games in Miami dating back to 2010.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), FS Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (16-49): Cleveland had won five of the last six games in which power forward Kevin Love played before falling to the Nets despite his 24 points and 16 rebounds. Reserve guard David Nwaba also provided a boost in the loss with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting in just 20 minutes. "That's the biggest thing for me, just be aggressive going to the basket, finishing or taking an open 3," Nwaba told reporters. "I'm just trying to play my part, play defense and go out there and compete."
ABOUT THE HEAT (30-34): Hassan Whiteside, playing only his second game over the past three seasons as a reserve, erupted for 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots in 20 minutes against the Hornets. "When you're coming off the bench, you can read the game a little better, because you can see who's hot, what the other team's scheme is," Whiteside told reporters of his new role. "The only thing is you can't come out with the sweat you have in the layup line. So it's got its advantages and disadvantages." Olynyk, who played a career-high 45 minutes in the victory, is averaging 17 points on 60.5 percent shooting over his last six games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers SF Cedi Osman scored a career-high 29 points in the most recent meeting with the Heat on Jan. 25.
2. Heat PG Goran Dragic (calf) has missed three straight games.
3. Cleveland PG Collin Sexton has made 73 3-pointers, tied with Kyrie Irving (2011-12) for the franchise record for a rookie.