Heat To Take On The Mavericks In 1st 2016 Game
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) The Miami Heat attempt to beat Dallas for the eighth time in the past nine meetings when they host the Mavericks on Friday. Dallas is the hotter team entering this matchup with four consecutive victories while Miami has dropped back-to-back outings.
The Mavericks handed the Golden State Warriors their second loss of the season on Wednesday with an easy114-91 victory over a team missing reigning MVP Stephen Curry. "From start to finish, the guys did a really good job," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "We didn't play a perfect game but we did the kinds of things that you need to do in this kind of situation to take advantage of it." Miami is 9-2 against Western Conference teams after dropping a 99-90 overtime decision against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. The Heat were just 9-of-18 from the free-throw line with shooting guard Dwyane Wade going an uncharacteristic 1-of-5.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (19-13): Point guard Deron Williams has missed the past four games with a hamstring injury and J.J. Barea has starred in his place by averaging 22.3 points and topping 20 in three of the four games. Barea is shooting 63 percent from the field during his hot stretch and has knocked down 18 3-pointers. Center Zaza Pachulia also has been playing well and had 14 points and 15 rebounds against the Warriors for his 17th double-double of the season.
ABOUT THE HEAT (18-13): Miami power forward Chris Bosh has rolled off six straight 20-point outings and is averaging 24.8 points during the stretch. He has three double-doubles during the span and has gone 9-of-12 from 3-point range over the past two games. Wade has scored 18 or more points in each of the past eight games - including four 20-point efforts - and is averaging 21.5 points during the stretch.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks won 93-72 in last season's visit to Miami, holding the Heat to 15 or fewer points in three different quarters.
2. Miami SF Luol Deng has scored in single digits in six of the past eight games.
3. Dallas is averaging 113.5 points during its four-game winning streak.
PREDICTION: Mavericks 109, Heat 107
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