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Rockets, Heat seek to end long losing droughts

Nov 23, 2007 - 3:57 PM Houston (6-6) at Miami (2-9) 8:00 pm EST

MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat came into this season with championship aspirations. Both teams are falling short of meeting those expectations.

The Rockets travel to American Airlines Arena on Friday to meet the Heat.

Houston started out the season winning six of it first seven but has since dropped five straight. Some of that drought can be attributed to the loss of leading scorer Tracy McGrady, who missed a week due to a strained right elbow.

McGrady returned Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks after a two-game absence but could not stop the bleeding in a 100-94 loss. The 6-8 guard played 38 minutes and had 15 points and a season-high 12 assists.

The return of guard Dwyane Wade was supposed to help the Heat snap out of their 1-6 start.

However, the three-time All-Star has only been able to propel Miami to one win in four games since his return from offseason shoulder and knee surgeries, despite averaging 18.8 points and 6.3 assists per game.

Miami's last loss was a 82-79 setback to the Atlanta Hawks - an embarrassment considering the Hawks had dropped 17 straight road games. As a result of the loss, Miami fell to 0-5 at home.