The Miami Heat (8-3) head to the Amway Center in Orlando on Wednesday to kick off the first of a two-game set against their Eastern Conference rival Orlando Magic (4-6). LeBron James' Heat are coming off a 104-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at home on Tuesday in which they shot 50.6 percent from the field and forced 24 Hawks turnovers, though James had only 13 points in an uncharacteristically sluggish night. Scroll down to the end of the page to check out a live stream link of the action when it airs at 7pm ET.
Tuesday night saw the Heat's supporting cast picking up a lot of the slack as James had an off-night offensively and Dwyane Wade sat out to rest his aching knees. "We're finding a way to have the same kind of continuity on offense and defense, no matter who we're putting out there," Chris Bosh told ESPN. Bosh pitched in 19 points, a team-high on a night when 12 of Miami's 13 players saw action against the Hawks. "But it's still early in the season and there are things we still have to learn as we go along. But I think chemistry is always going to be good with this team. We're using this as a positive because we can figure out what works and what doesn't with groups."
Bosh's 19 points were complemented by 17 from Ray Allen and 14 from Mario Chalmers. The bench dumped in another 45 collectively. "It's very encouraging our reserves were able to give us a spark," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald afterward. The Heat have improved on a sluggish 4-3 start to the season, winning 4 straight. That puts them on the heels of the 9-1 Indiana Pacers, who will play the Knicks tonight in New York's Madison Square Garden.
The Heat will likely be keeping an eye on Magic swingman Arron Afflalo, who has been an NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week nominee for Nov. 11-17 and so far this season has averaged 26.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 59 percent shooting. After Afflalo poured in a career-high 36 points against the Milwaukee Bucks last week, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he was "turning into a star player", adding, "He's an aggressive player who's got it going right now. He's what we call a 'hot player.' You make eight threes in one game, you're a hot player, you know?"
Watch the Heat and Magic here when they tip off live at 7pm ET on Wednesday evening.
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