Two teams looking to arrest their respective slumps in form will do battle at the Kaseya Center on Tuesday as the Miami Heat entertain the challenge of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The home side were beaten for the second straight game last time out, while their visitors will head to Florida currently on an abysmal run of 11 consecutive defeats.
Match preview
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With a play-in spot assured and automatic playoff qualification no longer a possibility, the Miami Heat have only one objective in the final knockings of the regular season: finish as high as seventh and give themselves the best shot at making it through to the postseason.
A six-game winning streak between March 23 and April 3 looked to have put Erik Spoelstra's men on the right track, but subsequent defeats against the Memphis Grizzlies and, most recently, the Milwaukee Bucks have seen them drop to 10th in the East.
Only a few days after losing to Ja Morant's buzzer-beating game winner, the Heat were also on the wrong end of yet another late twist against the Bucks as Brook Lopez sank a three-pointer with just 39 seconds left to force overtime, which eventually ended in a 121-115 defeat.
Currently on a 35-43 record, the Heat are on course for their first campaign with a winning percentage of less than 50% since the 2018-19 season, where they also finished 10th and missed the playoffs on that occasion.
Tuesday's clash against the 76ers will see the Heat attempt to win a fourth straight edition of this fixture, two of which have come this year following 108-101 and 118-95 triumphs in February and March respectively.
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By far the most underwhelming team in the league this season, the 76ers extended their ongoing longest losing streak this term courtesy of a 114-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Sunday's meeting at the Wells Fargo Center.
Despite being severely shorthanded, Nick Nurse's men battled hard to keep the contest alive for as long as possible, but a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter ultimately left them with too much ground to make up.
Continuing to shoulder the vast majority of the offensive burden, Quentin Grimes gave another good account of himself as he tallied a team-high 28 points for his 12th 20-point game in his last 13 appearances.
Ahead of only the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards, the 76ers are 13th in the Eastern Conference standings with a 23-55 record, and the chance of a higher draft lottery represents the only positive from the current campaign.
In the first of two remaining road games before the season winds up, Tuesday's visitors now go in search of a first away win since March 16, when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.
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Team News
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Philadelphia 76ers trio Jared McCain, Joel Embiid and Paul George are all ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign due to respective knee issues.
Eric Gordon (wrist) and Tyrese Maxey (finger) will also not feature again this term for the away side, who are by far the most injury-plagued team in the league.
Kyle Lowry (hip), Kelly Oubre Jr (knee) and Andre Drummond (toe) were all absent from the defeat to the Timberwolves and will not feature here either, while Justin Edwards could also miss out after suffering a rib contusion in the early exchanges of Sunday's affair.
Andrew Wiggins (hamstring), Tyler Herro (thigh), Isaiah Stevens (foot) and Nikola Jovic (hand) all missed the Heat's clash against the Bucks and are huge doubts to suit up for Tuesday's encounter.
Dru Smith underwent surgery back in December to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon and is also unavailable for the home side alongside Kevin Love (personal reasons).
Miami Heat possible starting five:
Burks, Larsson; Robinson, Adebayo; Ware
Philadelphia 76ers possible starting five:
Grimes, Butler; Walker, Yabusele; Bona
We say: Heat to win by 9+ points
The 76ers do not look like winning a basketball game anytime soon, and the Heat will be seriously left red-faced should they fail to come out on top in Tuesday's game.
We are backing the home side to get the better of their visitors in a relatively routine manner.
Adepoju Marvellous
