Miami Heat (34-29, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Charlotte Hornets (32-31, ninth in the Eastern Conference)
Charlotte, North Carolina; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Hornets -6.5; over/under is 230.5
BOTTOM LINE: Charlotte heads into a matchup with Miami as winners of six games in a row.
The Hornets are 9-4 against Southeast Division opponents. Charlotte scores 116.1 points while outscoring opponents by 3.8 points per game.
The Heat are 18-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami ranks seventh in the Eastern Conference shooting 36.1% from 3-point range.
The Hornets are shooting 46.1% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 45.6% the Heat allow to opponents. The Heat score 7.7 more points per game (120.0) than the Hornets allow their opponents to score (112.3).
The two teams square off for the third time this season. The Heat defeated the Hornets 126-108 in their last matchup on Nov. 8. Norman Powell led the Heat with 25 points, and Kon Knueppel led the Hornets with 30 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: LaMelo Ball is shooting 39.9% and averaging 19.2 points for the Hornets. Brandon Miller is averaging 22.9 points over the last 10 games.
Bam Adebayo is scoring 18.7 points per game with 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Heat. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 14.5 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 49.0% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hornets: 7-3, averaging 116.5 points, 47.2 rebounds, 26.9 assists, 9.0 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 103.2 points per game.
Heat: 7-3, averaging 122.9 points, 50.8 rebounds, 28.6 assists, 9.3 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.9 points.
INJURIES: Hornets: Grant Williams: day to day (knee), Tidjane Salaun: out (knee).
Heat: Nikola Jovic: day to day (back), Norman Powell: out (groin), Simone Fontecchio: day to day (groin).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
