With 20 games left in the regular season, the Miami Heat are battling to finish top-six in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in round.
On Thursday night, Miami will seek its third straight win and its second in three nights against the visiting Brooklyn Nets. The Heat won 124-98 on Tuesday night.
“I like the pressure,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about fighting for a playoff berth. “We need the pressure to kick us into another gear.”
The Heat entered Wednesday just a half-game behind the sixth-place Philadelphia 76ers.
“There will be a lot of emotions in these games,” Spoelstra said. “We have a lot of competitors in our locker room, and I’m banking on that bringing out their best. We have a high-powered offense and a defense that can be as good as anyone, but we have to put it together in the moments of truth.”
Spoelstra said Tyler Herro, who has missed 45 games this season due to injuries, should be a key going forward.
Herro, a career 38.2% shooter from 3-point range, is making just 36.3% from deep in the current campaign, and Spoelstra said that missing accuracy is “the final piece” for the 2024-25 All-Star to return to form.
“I trust Tyler because of all the work he puts in,” Spoelstra said. “He adds so much to our offense with his creativity and shot-making. Once he gets the 3-ball, it’s going to take us to another level.”
Meanwhile, the Nets have lost nine straight games, the longest active skid in the NBA. The Nets are just 7-24 on the road as compared to Miami’s 19-11 home record.
Brooklyn is 0-2 against Miami this season.
The Nets, who are last in the league in scoring average (106.8), are just 1-39 when trailing after three quarters. Further, they are 5-27 in all games since Dec. 29. And their 15 wins through 61 games is their lowest total since the 2016-17 season.
Clearly, the Nets are rebuilding, and that’s reflected by the seven rookies on their roster. Those newcomers have combined to start 83 games.
Nolan Traore is an example of Brooklyn’s rookie movement. He has started 16 consecutive games and is averaging 8.4 points, 3.6 assists and 2.0 turnovers.
Traore was one of the Nets’ NBA-record five first-round picks in 2025, a list that also includes Egor Demin, Ben Saraf, Drake Powell and Danny Wolf.
Brooklyn has six players age 21 or younger, including 2023 first-rounder Noah Clowney and the five rookies.
On Tuesday, Traore and Saraf combined for 20 points, but they also totaled 12 turnovers and just four assists.
“The exciting part is I know they can be better,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “They just have to learn and continue to grow.”
Brooklyn will also look for improvement from veteran Michael Porter Jr., who was held to nine points on 3-for-17 shooting on Tuesday. Porter missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.
For the season, Porter leads the Nets in scoring (24.1) and shooting 36.7% from behind the arc.
