The Miami Heat (10-10) head to Madison Square Garden for a Wednesday night matchup against the New York Knicks (10-10).
Miami had won their last three games until a 108-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 75-49 lead at halftime and never looked back. The Heat were led by Dion Waiters’ 21 points while Bam Adebayo scored 19 off the bench.
The Knicks lost their third game in a row on Monday falling back to .500 with their 103-91 defeat at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. They trailed by 26 after three quarters which proved to be far too much as their fourth quarter rally went for naught. Kristaps Porzingis led the way for New York with 22 while Tim Hardaway Jr. added 16.
Starting lineups (Projected)
Heat: PG - Goran Dragic, SG - Dion Waiters, SF - Josh Richardson, PF - Justise Winslow, C - Hassan Whiteside
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Tim Hardaway Jr., SF - Courtney Lee, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Stat leaders for Heat and Knicks
Heat: Scoring - Goran Dragic 18.6, Rebounding - Hassan Whiteside 12.7, Assists - Goran Dragic 4.6
Knicks: Scoring - Kristaps Porzingis 27.0, Rebounding - Enes Kanter 10.2, Assists - Jarrett Jack 5.9
Injuries
Heat: Out - Rodney McGruder (leg), Okaro White (foot)
Knicks: Probable - Enes Kanter (back)
What to know heading into Wednesday's game
The Knicks will look to avoid their first four-game losing streak since they lost five in a row from March 16-March 25 last season.
This is the second time they have lost three in a row this season as the first time was their 0-3 start.
Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t shot over 50 percent from the field in any of his past seven games. During that time, he is shooting just 37.5 percent. In his first 11 games, he shot over 50 percent seven times. He has experienced swelling in his right elbow which caused him to miss a game earlier in the season, and one has to wonder if that has contributed to his shooting struggles.
New York had a tough time slowing down Goran Dragic last season. In the three head-to-head meetings, Dragic averaged 23.7 points on nearly 50 percent shooting and seven assists.
Heat/Knicks regular season history
The Knicks and Heat have met 115 times in the regular season.
New York currently owns a 62-53 lead in the win column in those matchups.
Going into their game on January 6, 2016, Miami had taken eight in a row in the series. Since then, the Knicks and Heat have alternated wins in the last five meetings. They met three times last season with New York winning two. The Knicks have actually won three in a row in Miami but have lost seven straight in Madison Square Garden to the Heat.