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Heat, Timberwolves meet in battle of league's worst teams

Jan 8, 2008 - 2:21 PM Miami (8-26) at Minnesota (4-29) 8:00 pm EST

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - The two worst teams in the NBA each hope to end their longest losing streaks of the season when the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves meet at the Target Center on Tuesday.

The Heat continue their remarkable descent from NBA Champions in 2005-06 to Southeast Division champion last season to cellar dweller through 34 games in this campaign. They dropped their seventh contest in a row on Sunday - a 101-94 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies and have not won since defeating the Utah Jazz on December 22.

As a result, Miami is in the middle of its longest losing streak since a 12-game skid from November 8-December 4, 2001.

The Heat's last five losses have come without 11-time All-Star Shaquille O'Neal in the lineup as he continues to be hindered by bursitis in his left hip. He had hoped to return for this game, but he flew to Los Angeles on Monday to seek medical treatment on the injury on Monday.

While Miami's fall from grace has been unexpected, many expected Minnesota to be a team of transition this season, although few expected the Timberwolves to be dreadful. They are in the midst of a eight-game slide in which they are losing by 15.2 points per game.

Minnesota lost for the 14th time in 15 games on Sunday in a 101-78 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks. The Timberwolves fell to 0-24 when it fails to score 100 points and are the second-lowest scoring team in the NBA at 93 points per game.