Miami @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 27, 2016 ) Oklahoma City 106, Miami 94

The Oklahoma City Thunder begin a pivotal stretch where four of six games are at home as they entertain the Miami Heat on Friday. Oklahoma City also plays Portland, San Antonio (road), Denver, New Orleans (road) and Golden State during the stretch as it attempts to land home-floor advantage for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Thunder host Portland on Sunday as they try to chase down the third-place Trail Blazers but can't afford to look past Miami. Oklahoma City ripped off six straight wins before suffering a last-second 100-99 setback against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. The Heat stand seventh in the Eastern Conference but are solidly positioned for a playoff spot as they are 6 1/2 games clear of the ninth-place Detroit Pistons with 10 games to play. Miami is expected to be without center Hassan Whiteside (hip) for the seventh straight game and shooting guard Dwyane Wade (hamstring) for the sixth consecutive contest.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), FS Oklahoma

ABOUT THE HEAT (39-33): Center Kelly Olynyk contributed 22 points and a career-best 10 assists in Wednesday's 119-98 victory over the New York Knicks and has been superb during the team's three-game winning streak. Olynyk had 30 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a career-high four blocked shots in Monday's win over Denver and is averaging 23 points on 26-of-41 shooting over the stretch. "There's a lot of things that the defense has to negotiate through when he's on the court and he's playing at a high level," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "And that's where he has been building and trending to."

ABOUT THE THUNDER (43-30): The one-point loss to Boston stung for multiple reasons, including the NBA revealing that Celtics forward Marcus Morris traveled before making the winning 3-point shot with 1.2 seconds left, and that Oklahoma City forward Carmelo Anthony missed two free throws with his team leading by two with 8.4 seconds left to set up the finish. Anthony was despondent after the contest - he had 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting - but vowed he would beat himself up and then move on. "He'll be a legend in this league when it's all said and done," Thunder All-Star forward Paul George told reporters of Anthony. "For sure, in moments like this, not many times we can say he's missed two free throws. It's nothing needs to be said. He knows we got his back. He knows we're behind him."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Thunder won the past three meetings and five of the last six.

2. Oklahoma City All-Star PG Russell Westbrook needs to average 12.6 rebounds over the final nine games to average a triple-double for a second straight campaign.

3. Miami backup SG Wayne Ellington (201) is the third player in franchise history to make 200 3-pointers in a season, joining Damon Jones (225 in 2004-05) and Tim Hardaway Sr. (203 in 1996-97).

PREDICTION: Thunder 113, Heat 108