March 3, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) reacts against the Brooklyn Nets in the third quarter at the Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images With 20 games left in the regular season, the Miami Heat is struggling to avoid the play-in round and place in the top 6 of the Eastern Conference.
On Thursday night, Miami will look to make it three wins in a row and second in three days against the visiting Brooklyn Nets. The Heat won 124-98 on Tuesday night.
“I like the pressure,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of fighting for a playoff spot. “We need pressure to get us into a different gear.”
The Heat entered Wednesday a half-game behind the sixth-place Philadelphia 76ers.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotion in this game,” Spoelstra said. “We have a lot of competitors in our locker room, and I expect them to do their best. We have a strong offense and defense that can be as good as anyone, but we have to put it together in the moment of truth.”
Spoelstra said Tyler Herro, who has missed 45 games this season due to injury, should be a key player going forward.
Herro, a career 38.2 percent 3-point shooter, is shooting just 36.3 percent on the current campaign, and Spoelstra said the missing accuracy is “the final piece” for the All-Star to return to form in 2024-25.
“I trust Tyler because of all the hard work he puts in,” Spoelstra said. “He adds a lot to our offense with his creativity and shot-making. Once he gets the three-ball, he will take us to another level.”
Meanwhile, the Nets have lost nine straight, the longest active skid in the NBA. The Nets are just 7-24 on the road compared to Miami’s 19-11 home record.
Brooklyn lost 0-2 against Miami this season.
The Nets, last in the league in scoring average (106.8), have only 1 win and 39 losses after the third quarter. Additionally, they are 5-27 in all games since December 29th. And the 15 wins in 61 games is their lowest total since the 2016-17 season.
Clearly, the Nets are rebuilding and this is reflected by the seven rookies on the roster. These rookies combined to start 83 games.
Nolan Traore is an example of Brooklyn rookie movement. He has started 16 consecutive games and is averaging 8.4 points, 3.6 assists and 2.0 turnovers.
Traore was one of the Nets’ NBA-record five first-round picks in 2025, which also included Egor Demin, Ben Saraf, Drake Powell and Danny Wolf.
Brooklyn has six players under the age of 21, including 2023 first-round pick Noah Clowney and five rookies.
On Tuesday, Traore and Saraf combined for 20 points but had a total of 12 turnovers and four assists.
“The exciting part is they know they can get better,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “They need to learn and continue to grow.”
Brooklyn will also look to develop veteran Michael Porter Jr., who had nine points on 3-for-17 shooting Tuesday. Porter missed all nine 3-pointers.
This season, Porter leads the Nets in scoring (24.1) and shooting 36.7% from behind the arc.
–Field level media
