Philadelphia @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2018 ) Philadelphia 101, Miami 102

The Miami Heat are not feeling much pressure from behind as they sit in the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference, but the opportunity to move up continues to present itself. The Heat will get another opportunity to win at the expense of a team in front of them in the standings when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

Miami, which already earned one home win over the 76ers since the All-Star break, failed to run their winning streak to three in a row when it fell at the Washington Wizards -- another team in front of it in the East -- in overtime on Tuesday. "It's very competitive, no doubt," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who will guide his team against Washington again on Saturday, told reporters. "So, we'll have another opportunity with these guys back in Miami in a few days, but we have another big one before that. So, we can't even think about that. But there's so many evenly matched teams and that's why some of these, a lot of these games are going down to the end." The 76ers earned a 128-114 win at Charlotte on Tuesday to improve to 1-1 on the four-game road trip and sit two games ahead of the Heat. Philadelphia set a season high with a 57.5 shooting percentage and handed out 35 assists against the Hornets.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Sun (Miami)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (35-28): Philadelphia is led by a pair of young stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons but is at its best when it is getting contributions off the perimeter from Robert Covington and JJ Redick. Covington went over 20 points for the first time since Dec. 2 when he went off for 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting on Tuesday, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Most of the shooting is being set up by Simmons, who totaled 28 assists in the last two games and is averaging 10.8 while scoring 15.3 points on 66.7 percent shooting in four games this month.

ABOUT THE HEAT (34-31): Miami legend Dwyane Wade played the hero against Philadelphia by burying the game-winning jumper in a 102-101 win on Feb. 27 and dragged his team into overtime on Tuesday but could not come up with another game-winning shot. "I have always believed in that man," Spoelstra told reporters of Wade. "He might not be able to play the role that he did for us in 2008 and 2009, playing 40 minutes and then I would ask him to play the best player and defend on the other end, as well. But for 20 to 25 minutes, I think he can be every bit of who he used to be, just in compact minutes." Wade is averaging 19.4 points in 24.8 minutes over the last five games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Heat SF Josh Richardson is 16-of-28 from the floor over the last three games, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

2. 76ers PF Dario Saric is 16-of-22 from the floor over the last two contests, including 8-of-12 from 3-point range.

3. Miami SG Wayne Ellington (quad) is expected to return from a four-game absence on Thursday.

PREDICTION: 76ers 109, Heat 104