Heat at Timberwolves
The Miami Heat cannot afford to lose as they attempt to jump back into the top eight in the Eastern Conference and lock up a spot in the postseason. The Heat will try to bounce back from consecutive losses when they open a two-game trip by visiting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Miami, which plays three of its final four regular season games on the road, fell a half-game behind the Orlando Magic for the No. 8 spot when it dropped a 112-102 home decision to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. "Obviously, we always say one-game-at-a-time mentality. But it's a tight race," Heat small forward Justise Winslow told reporters. "We're watching other teams and they're watching us. But we can only control what we can control." The Timberwolves are ticketed for the lottery but are still playing hard and are coming off a 110-108 win at Dallas. "We made a commitment to ourselves, especially after we were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, that every time we're together, we're going to strive for next year," interim coach Ryan Saunders told reporters. "You don't want to feel this way. You want to be playing for something at the end of the year. We got to use every moment we have."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE HEAT (38-40): Miami leading scorer Josh Richardson (16.6 points) returned from a three-game absence on Wednesday, only to leave after 16 minutes with a left leg injury that leaves him questionable for Friday. "I was obviously concerned when he left the game," Heat guard Dwyane Wade told reporters. "At first you just thought maybe he got hit the wrong way. But the way he left the game, you knew it wasn't. So, we're definitely concerned about him. This time of the year is a bad time for injuries, but hopefully he's fine." Wade could be down to the final four games of his Hall of Fame career if Miami misses the postseason, and he is coming to the end strong while averaging 17.2 points over the last six contests.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (35-43): Wednesday represented a bounce-back for All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who led the way with 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting and added 13 rebounds in the win. The 23-year-old former No. 1 overall pick shot 34.7 percent from the floor over the previous three games, including a 6-of-21 effort in a home loss to Portland on Monday. Fellow former No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins is trying to close the season strong as well and hit the go-ahead shot as part of a 19-point effort on Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PF Dario Saric averaged 13.5 points in the last two games after slumping to four points on 1-of-6 shooting against Philadelphia on Saturday.
2. Heat SG Dion Waiters is averaging 20.8 points over his last six games.
3. The road team took the last three in the series, with Minnesota earning a 113-104 victory at Miami on Dec. 30 behind 34 points and 18 rebounds from Towns.