After coughing up a 25-point lead to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, the Miami Heat get a shot at redemption Thursday when they hit the road.
“We owe them one,” Miami guard Tyler Herro said after the Heat’s 110-95 home win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
Saturday’s matchup saw Orlando lose another key part of their rotation when Mo Wagner suffered a torn ACL driving to the basket in the first quarter. The Magic are already without superstar Paolo Banchero and Mo’s brother Franz, each dealing with oblique injuries.
There was good news for Orlando last week as Banchero started light conditioning work, but there remains no timetable for his return.
Those three players combine for more than 66 points per game this season for the Magic, yet Orlando still has won its last two games to stand fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Mo Wagner’s injury was another storyline during one of the wildest NBA games of the season which saw Orlando tie a franchise record for largest comeback and outscored the Heat 37-8 in the fourth quarter to record a 121-114 win.
Orlando followed up with a 108-104 home win over the Celtics after trailing by 15 at halftime.
“It’s a fighting group, it’s a gritty group, it’s a confident group that believes in themselves,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They’ve given themselves a chance to be successful. It’s by committee, we say that a lot. That’s who this group is. They’re going to do it by committee every night.”
The Magic’s secret sauce has been a defense that allows the second fewest points in the NBA at 103.9 per game and is tied for the NBA lead in blocked shots with the San Antonio Spurs at 7 per game.
“That is this group,” Mosley said. “I don’t think there is any other way to put it. I think that’s what they have shown. They continue to prove it. They believe in one another.”
It seems the deeper Mosley goes into the bench, the more gold he finds. First-round pick Tristan Da Silva had 18 points and a key late 3-pointer in the win over Boston. Trevelin Queen bounced up from the G-League and tied a career high with 17 points.
“He’s not afraid of big moments, not afraid to take on challenges,” Mosley said of Queen. “That’s who he is. It’s why we talk about him going back and forth to Osceola, because that’s the environment that we have created.”
The Heat have hovered around .500 this season. Star guard Jimmy Butler, who is averaging 18.5 points a game, has been out with an illness and has missed the past two games. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that Butler would prefer to be moved before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Terry Rozier missed the Heat’s win over the Nets with a knee injury.
Miami also plays great defense, allowing 109.4 points a game, sixth best in the NBA. Herro has been the team’s No. 1 option on offense, averaging a career high 23.9 points a game.
“I think we haven’t played bad basketball,” Herro said. “We continue to show pieces of good offense and good defense in different sections of the game, but we have to stay focused and consistent in our game and our identity for a full 48 minutes.”
Orlando has won both meetings with the Heat this season. The game is the fifth of a seven-game homestand for Orlando.
