• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Heat hope to continue dominance over Orlando

Nov 22, 2014 - 5:15 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat have not played good basketball of late, but will try to get back on track Saturday night when they meet their Florida neighbors, the Orlando Magic, at Amway Center.

The Heat, the four-time reigning Eastern Conference champions, have dropped four of their last five and run the risk of falling under .500 with a loss on Saturday.

The most recent setback came Thursday night when the Heat got slaughtered at home by the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-93.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 28 points in their fourth loss in their third straight home loss. Shabazz Napier dropped in 17 points, while Mario Chalmers and Luol Deng each chipped in with 13 points in the setback.

Dwyane Wade missed his fourth straight game due to various injuries and will not play on Saturday.

Norris Cole dislocated his left middle finger against the Clippers and played under 10 minutes. He did not return and is doubtful against the Magic.

Los Angeles shot a blistering 68 percent (17-of-25) from the floor over the first 12 minutes -- including 62.5 percent (5-for-8) from deep -- and committed just one turnover, taking a 39-15 lead into the second.

"Not a whole lot to say," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "That was a blitz in that first quarter. They played outstanding basketball in that first quarter."

Thanks to that first-quarter onslaught, the Heat fell to 24th in the NBA in opponents' field-goal percentage.

The Magic won for the second time in the last three tries with a 105-100 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, although Orlando truly lived up to its name in the second half.

Orlando trailed by 23 points midway through the third quarter and was down 83-65 with under 11 minutes left, then outscored the Hornets 40-17 the rest of the way to send Charlotte to a fourth consecutive defeat.

Elfrid Payton had eight points down the stretch and fellow reserves Willie Green and Ben Gordon netted nine each in the final quarter. The Magic also received 21 overall points from Evan Fournier and a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double out of Tobias Harris.

"A lot of credit (goes) to Ben Gordon, to Elfrid, Tobias, just the whole group that was in there," said Green. "We just made a collective effort that we were going to just fight to the end."

Orlando, which shot a sizzling 71.4 percent in the fourth quarter, kept on charging, with Payton putting the Magic up 97-95 on a pull-up jumper with 1:30 left. Jefferson responded by making two free throws on the other end, but Green hustled and tipped in a missed foul shot from Payton to send Orlando back ahead with 57.2 seconds to go.

The Heat have won nine in a row against the Magic and that includes four straight in Orlando.