Miami Heat continue their charge towards the top of the East; Await Washington Wizards next: NBA Preview
On Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL, Eastern Conference giants Miami Heat will be playing hosts to the 14th placed Washington Wizards.
Heat may go into the game looking to rest their key players like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Bosh was given a rest in Miami`s last outing in a win against the Bulls which they won 83-72. Wade on the other hand did play in the game
and ended with 18 points on Thursday. He has however been facing some problems with several injuries, the most recent being to his ankle and is most likely to sit this one out.
Wade has missed 14 games this season but it has not been much of a problem for the Heat as they have won 13 of them. In Wade`s absence, LeBron James has had to handle a huge share of responsibility for the Heat offense but he has
not been disappointing at all. In fact, he seems to like the role and has been in spectacular form off late. LeBron finished the last game against the Bulls with double-double figures of 27 points and 11 rebounds along with 6 assists.
On the other hand, Wizards would have been the team with the worst record (16-46) in the league, had it not been for the Charlotte Bobcats. The Wizards however have been hot off late and come into the game having won on their previous
two outings, the last one coming against the Bucks on Wednesday in which Jordan Crawford recorded a season high of 32 points.
As per the current scenario of the Eastern Conference standings, Heat, are currently 1 and half games behind the leaders, Chicago Bulls. If they are to win all their remaining matches and the Bulls end up losing even one, the Heat
will be able to clinch the conference and a home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Miami`s head coach Erik Spoelstra has played the significance of chasing down the number one spot. However, they are still working out to maintain a certain consistency level in their performances.
"We needed to address our consistency, our identity, make sure that we're playing at a high level going into the postseason," - Spoelstra said
Miami still have four games remaining in the regular season, two of which are against the Wizards. Out of the other two, one is against the Boston Celtics which will be the fourth of the season series between the two. The one remaining
game is against the Houston Rockets.
Whereas for the Wizards, they have to play Charlotte and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the remaining two are against the Heat. Going into the game, Washington seem to be on a giant killing spree of late as their last three wins have
come against playoff bound teams, Orlando Magic, Bulls and the hopeful Bucks.
It would be an interesting matchup in a sense that both teams would be looking to address their season issues in the closing stages of the regular season.
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