Heat at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are the hottest team in the NBA and just knocked off the defending champion Golden State Warriors to push their winning streak to nine straight. The Spurs will try to extend the run to double digits and inch closer to the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference when they host the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
San Antonio dropped seven of eight on its annual rodeo road trip bridging the All-Star break but is a different team since coming off the extended excursion and held the last nine opponents to an average of 101.3 points. "Consistency. We're doing it on a consistent basis, especially on the defensive end," Spurs shooting guard DeMar DeRozan told ESPN. "We've been relying on our defense more than our offense." The Heat are fighting to clinch a playoff spot in the East and sit in the No. 8 spot, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Orlando Magic and one behind the seventh-place Brooklyn Nets entering Tuesday after earning a 116-107 victory at Oklahoma City on Monday. That marked the first stop of a rough four-game trip that includes a trip to NBA-best Milwaukee on Friday and a visit to the Washington Wizards - another team fighting for the No. 8 spot in the East - on Saturday.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), FS Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE HEAT (34-36): Miami is bringing former All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic off the bench and the combination is proving to be a successful pairing. The two combined for 51 points on 19-of-34 shooting and 16 assists on Monday while power forward Kelly Olynyk (18 points) was the lone starter to score in double figures for the Heat. "It gives us a different dynamic," Wade told reporters. "As you guys have seen tonight and saw the other night as well, (Dragic) can score the basketball. He's shooting the ball very well right now, but also someone else who can handle the basketball. It gives me an opportunity to play off the ball a lot. I can attack in different ways but also play on the ball."
ABOUT THE SPURS (42-29): DeRozan gave the credit to the defense after the win over the Warriors, but San Antonio needed his offense as well as he collected a team-high 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting, nine rebounds and eight assists. The 29-year-old USC product is averaging 21.6 points on the season and pushed that number to 24.2 over the last five contests. All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points and 13 rebounds against the Warriors for his seventh 20-plus scoring effort during the winning streak.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat SF/PG Justise Winslow (thigh) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. Spurs SF Rudy Gay scored 17 points off the bench on Monday for his sixth straight double-figure effort.
3. Miami snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series with a 95-88 home win on Nov. 7.