Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The regular season is winding down and so we can experience lots of "lasts." On Tuesday the Heat played Chicago for the last time in the regular season. Tonight, they play their final Western Conference road game as they visit the Memphis Grizzlies and the original Shaq architect, Jerry West.
The Grizz are nursing a two and a half game lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. The Heat have already clinched the top spot in the East. The Grizz have a 23-14 record at home; the Heat have a 23-14 record away.
The only other time these two met was back in December when the Heat were in the early stages of what would become a 14 game winning streak. The Heat are currently riding a two game winning streak.
As coincidence would have it, that's exactly the number of consecutive wins the Heat had back in December when they hosted the Grizzlies.
Will history repeat itself?
Mathematically, it cannot. The longest the Heat can extend this regular season winning streak is nine games. After that, they are into playoff territory.
On the other hand, who says winning streaks can't span the regular and the post seasons?
NEXT GAME
The Heat (56-19, first in the Southeast) visit the Memphis Grizzlies (42-32, fourth in the Southwest) TONIGHT. The game starts at 8:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
The Heat have clinched the Southeast divisional title and the Eastern Conference tite. Congratulations Miami!
The Miami Heat offers $10,000.00 in scholarship fundsto high school seniors each year. Scholarship applications are available in December each year and recipients are awarded in April. This is the seventh year that the Miami Heat has offered scholarships.
INJURY UPDATE
Christian Laettner(foot),Rasual Butler(knee), andDorell Wright(knee) are on the injured list.Shaquille O'Neal(virus) is expected to miss tonight's game.
Stephen F. Holder ofThe Miami Heraldwrites: Heat center Shaquille O'Neal will not travel to Memphis for Friday night's game against the Grizzlies after symptoms from his stomach illness persisted Wednesday.Doctors determined Miami's All-Star and Most Valuable Player candidate has a viral infection of some kind. Coach Stan Van Gundy said O'Neal is expected to return to the lineup for Sunday's showdown at home against the Detroit Pistons, a game that will match the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
Arash Markazi ofSports Illustratedwrites: Even as he watches O'Neal lead the Miami Heat to the NBA's second best record and other teams lining to offer Jackson top dollar to coach their teams next season, Buss still thinks he made the right call. "If we had it over to do today, we would do exactly the same thing," Buss said recently, reiterating that it was important to trade O'Neal while he was at his maximum value and that the Lakers needed a break from Jackson.But does Buss even believe that? How are three mid-tier players getting the maximum value for O'Neal, and if the Lakers needed a break from Jackson that badly, why was Buss trying to get his former coach to take over for the team around the All-Star break?
Roscoe Nance ofUSA Todaywrites: With or without Shaquille O'Neal in the lineup, teams shouldn't take liberties with Miami Heat players.That was Heat forward Udonis Haslem's message to the Chicago Bulls earlier this week and to Miami's prospective playoff opponents. Haslem took exception when Bulls rookie Andres Nocioni committed a flagrant foul against Heat guard Dwyane Wade with 2:52 remaining in the fourth quarter and Miami leading 95-82, and he shoved Nocioni into the first row of spectators along the baseline. "The bottom line is that we are going to come out and compete and not back down for anybody," Haslem, assessed a technical foul and ejected, told reporters after the game. "That's like the second or third time in the last four games that someone has done that to Dwyane. "We are coming up to the playoffs, and we can't afford to have our best player get hurt."