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Feb 17, 2010 - 4:34 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Miami (26-27) at New Jersey (4-48), 7:30 p.m. EDT

After a first half filled almost exclusively with lengthy losing streaks, the New Jersey Nets are already feeling better about how the post-All-Star break portion of their schedule is going.

The Miami Heat may be, too.

While the Nets try to avenge a heartbreaking November defeat and notch their first back-to-back wins of the season on Wednesday night, the visiting Heat will be trying to hold a fourth straight opponent under 80 points for the first time in franchise history.

New Jersey (5-48) entered the break with an eight-game losing streak and a winning percentage that would rank as the worst in NBA history if they finished that way.

While they are still on pace to finish even worse than the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who went 9-73, the Nets may have gotten a major confidence boost from Tuesday night's 103-94 win at Charlotte.

Courtney Lee led the way with 21 points for New Jersey, which topped 100 points for the eighth time and shot better than 50 percent from the field for the fifth time all season. The Nets rank last in the NBA in both scoring and field-goal percentage.

"I really think everybody really just got away from it and kind of refocused and forgot about the first part of the season," standout guard Devin Harris said. "Guys came in ready to play and ready to go."

Playing without Harris on Nov. 14, the Nets almost earned their first win of the season at Miami, but they lost 81-80 when Heat star Dwyane Wade buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer. That was the 10th defeat in what became a record-setting 18-game losing streak to open 2009-10.

Now looking to win two in a row for the first time since beating Orlando and Charlotte last April 11 and 13, New Jersey's offense will face a difficult challenge.

The Heat (27-27) have responded to a five-game losing streak with three straight dominating victories surrounding the break. Miami has outscored its last three opponents by an average of 26.0 points, with Houston, Atlanta and Philadelphia shooting a combined 35.1 percent and averaging 73.3 points per game.

The Heat have held three straight foes under 80 for the first time since Nov. 20-24, 2002. They'll have a chance to achieve the feat in four straight contests for the first time after outrebounding the 76ers 52-37 and holding Philadelphia to 1-of-12 shooting from 3-point range in an easy 105-78 win on Tuesday night.

"I think there's a direct correlation to yesterday's mindset to come back after the break," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't have to clear any cobwebs. We practiced hard and the guys had the right attitude."

Coming off an MVP performance in Sunday's All-Star Game, Wade had 24 points, six assists and six rebounds and center Jermaine O'Neal added 20 points to lead the Heat, who face three more road games to finish a stretch of five straight and eight of nine away from home.

Miami is in a three-way tie with Charlotte and Chicago for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with Milwaukee close behind in a tight playoff race.

"We're playing well, and this was a win that you need on the road, especially with having four road games (after the break)," Wade said Tuesday. "We're going to need everyone to step up and pull their own weight."

The Nets beat Miami 96-88 on March 20, the last time the Heat visited the Garden State.