Brooklyn @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2018 ) Miami 95, Brooklyn 101

The Miami Heat are on the verge of clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs but are still battling for seeding as the regular season winds down. The Heat will try to jump into the No. 6 spot when they host the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.

Miami goes into play on Friday in seventh place in the East, a half-game behind sixth-place Washington, after beating Cleveland and Chicago in the first two of a four-game homestand. The schedule is lining up nicely for the Heat, who play five straight games against teams well out of the race beginning with Thursday's win over the Bulls and continuing with Brooklyn, two straight against last-place Atlanta and a visit to the New York Knicks. “You play a team that’s playing for something different, not necessarily playing for something different, but they’re just in a different place than you are – those can be dangerous games because you get tempted into thinking there’s going to be a knockout punch early,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “You have to expect every game in this league to be a 48-minute game where you’re required to compete and play at a high level." The Nets snapped a three-game slide with a 111-104 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday but haven't beaten a team with a current winning record since Jan. 31.

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

ABOUT THE NETS (24-51): Brooklyn does not own its first-round draft pick and is not fighting for lottery position, leaving the organization searching for momentum going into the offseason. “(General manager) Sean Marks talked to us after the All-Star break and (coach) Kenny (Atkinson) repeats it to us all the time,” Nets guard Joe Harris told Newsday. “We’re about trying to finish this season the right way. We’re trying to compete and set ourselves up the right way with good momentum going into next season.” Harris is finishing the right way and is 15-of-18 from the floor in the last two games.

ABOUT THE HEAT (41-35): Miami got center Hassan Whiteside (hip) back from a nine-game absence on Thursday and he scored eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes. “His conditioning was a little bit better than I anticipated,” Spoelstra told reporters of Whiteside. “But he’s been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and I thought he was able to play with the pace that we’re playing at. He had four assists. So, we were able to play some offense through him. He made some nice easy plays on handoffs. It’s just good to have him back out there. He clearly gives us something different.” Backup center Bam Adebayo (ankle) returned from a one-game absence and added three points off the bench.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Heat SG Tyler Johnson (ankle) left Thursday's game and is day-to-day.

2. Nets SF DeMarre Carroll recorded four double-doubles in March - his high for any month this season.

3. Brooklyn took the last two meetings, including a 111-87 win at Miami on Dec. 29.

PREDICTION: Heat 103, Nets 100