Houston Rockets (37-21, third in the Western Conference) vs. Miami Heat (31-29, eighth in the Eastern Conference)
Miami; Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Houston takes on the Miami Heat after Kevin Durant scored 40 points in the Rockets’ 113-108 victory against the Orlando Magic.
The Heat are 17-11 in home games. Miami ranks second in the NBA with 47.3 rebounds led by Bam Adebayo averaging 9.8.
The Rockets are 17-14 on the road. Houston is 15-5 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 14.5 turnovers per game.
The Heat average 13.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.4 more made shots on average than the 12.1 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets average 114.7 points per game, 2.5 fewer than the 117.2 the Heat allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Adebayo is averaging 18.5 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Heat. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 15.2 points over the last 10 games.
Durant is scoring 26.1 points per game and averaging 5.4 rebounds for the Rockets. Reed Sheppard is averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 5-5, averaging 120.9 points, 51.9 rebounds, 29.9 assists, 8.7 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.2 points per game.
Rockets: 6-4, averaging 108.5 points, 42.9 rebounds, 23.9 assists, 9.2 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.8 points.
INJURIES: Heat: Nikola Jovic: day to day (back), Norman Powell: day to day (groin).
Rockets: Jae’Sean Tate: out (knee), Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Jabari Smith Jr.: day to day (ankle), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
