NBA preview: The Miami Heat look to get back on course against the Orlando Magic
For a team full of superstars that many pundits thought would dominate the league, the Miami Heat (8-6) have been anything but super this season. They’ll try to avoid a three-game losing streak when they head to the Amway Center on Wednesday 24 November
to face the Orlando Magic (9-4).
When the Heat re-signed Dwyane Wade, and acquired All-Star forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh this past off-season, many felt as though the team would have a good shot to challenge the regular-season record for wins, 72, set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
However, Miami has been unable to put anything together this year, especially on the offensive side of the floor where many expected them to excel. The hope was that the Heat would only lose a handful of games prior to the All-Star break. And, although those
may have been high expectations, Miami surely didn’t expect to lose six games before December.
Their most recent defeat, a 93-77 home loss at the hands of the lowly Indiana Pacers, brought more bad news as the team learned that their leading rebounder, Udonis Haslem, may be lost for the season with a torn ligament in his foot.
“I don’t think we anticipated anything like this. We’re just going to have to deal with it,” Bosh said following Monday’s tough loss. “When we came into this situation we all knew that it wasn't going to be an easy road, so we have to just embrace the fact
that it’s not easy.”
During their current two-game losing streak (their second such streak of the young NBA season), the Heat have been outrebounded 95-71 by their opponents, the Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers. They’ll have to do better than that if they hope to contain Orlando
centre Dwight Howard, who leads his team with 11.6 boards per game this year.
James’ play appears to be the key to Miami’s potential turnaround, and he will have to improve on both sides of the floor after accumulating just eight rebounds while committing 10 turnovers over their last two games. James, however, sees his team’s shortcomings
a little differently.
“We need to have more fun,” he told reporters earlier this week. “We are lacking two things, that is having fun and a little bit of swag right now. We are not playing with the same atmosphere, pride and fun as we did early on in the season when we were playing
some good ball.”
They may run into a buzz saw Wednesday night when they take on an Orlando team that has won four of its last five contests. The Magic are also looking to avenge the 26-point dismantling that the Heat doled out when the two faced off during the opening week
of the season.
“They came out, they threw an uppercut, and as a team we kind of went down,” Howard recounted afterwards.
Still, the Magic seem to be reeling from their most recent contest, a 106-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. In that game, Orlando relinquished a fourth quarter lead, committing five costly turnovers in the game’s final stanza.
Although both teams have the potential to be the best in the Eastern Conference, inconsistency has been the name of the game thus far this season.
Prediction: Miami 94, Orlando 98
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