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Rockets (9-5) @ Heat (7-6)
Having recovered from a knee injury that cost him the end of last season, Dwyane Wade hasn't let a sprained ankle and flu-like symptoms slow him down.
A visit from the Houston Rockets might.
Coming off his two best offensive performances of the season, Wade will face a stiffer challenge Monday when his Miami Heat host the Rockets, the Western Conference's stingiest defensive team.
Miami (7-6) has been inconsistent during the early going, as it's yet to win three in a row and hasn't lost consecutive games. The one constant for the Heat has been Wade, who's averaging 28.9 points - second in the NBA behind Cleveland's LeBron James - and has turned in his best two efforts of the season in the last two games.
Wade had a season-high 40 points and 11 assists Wednesday in a 101-95 loss to Toronto. Then, despite experiencing flu-like symptoms Saturday morning, he helped Miami bounce back that night with 38 points as the Heat rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit for a 109-100 win over Indiana.
"Hopefully, one day, we can put a string of wins together," Wade said. "But right now, we're just going to keep taking it one game at a time, trying to win each game and get better every night. That's all we can do."
Wade hasn't scored more points in back-to-back games since totaling 81 from March 29-April 1, 2006.
His best three-game total is 117 points from March 8-12, 2006, but the Rockets (9-5) would figure to make it difficult for Wade to break that mark. Houston allows 90.0 points per game - right behind league-best Boston at 89.9 - and has given up 87.4 ppg while going 5-2 in its last seven contests.
The Rockets kicked off a three-game road trip Friday with a 103-91 victory over Washington, overcoming a seven-point deficit after three quarters by outscoring the Wizards 33-14 in the final period. A night later in Orlando, the Magic scored 53 points in the first half, but Houston clamped down after halftime and Yao Ming finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in a 100-95 win.
"We did what we wanted to do offensively," coach Rick Adelman said. "If we get the ball into Yao, it opens up a lot of things. He has such an impact on the game."
While Houston will have its hands full with Wade, who averaged 32.0 points against the Rockets last season, the Heat will have quite a challenge in dealing with Yao. He's averaging 24.8 points on 61.9 percent shooting in his last four games against Miami.
Another issue for the Heat is getting rookie forward Michael Beasley back on track. The No. 2 overall draft pick scored in double figures in nine consecutive games from Oct. 31-Nov. 16, but hasn't topped 10 points in two of his last three contests.
The Rockets hope Tracy McGrady is starting to pick it up offensively. McGrady failed to score in double figures in four of six games earlier this month - something that happened only six times last season - but he's averaging 17.7 points in his last three contests.
Yao, who missed the final two months of last season with a broken foot, is happy to pick up the slack for McGrady.
"Tracy did so much for our team last year when I was out so I'm trying to pay him back," Yao said.
Houston has lost four of five in Miami.
Having recovered from a knee injury that cost him the end of last season, Dwyane Wade hasn't let a sprained ankle and flu-like symptoms slow him down.
A visit from the Houston Rockets might.
Coming off his two best offensive performances of the season, Wade will face a stiffer challenge Monday when his Miami Heat host the Rockets, the Western Conference's stingiest defensive team.
Miami (7-6) has been inconsistent during the early going, as it's yet to win three in a row and hasn't lost consecutive games. The one constant for the Heat has been Wade, who's averaging 28.9 points - second in the NBA behind Cleveland's LeBron James - and has turned in his best two efforts of the season in the last two games.
Wade had a season-high 40 points and 11 assists Wednesday in a 101-95 loss to Toronto. Then, despite experiencing flu-like symptoms Saturday morning, he helped Miami bounce back that night with 38 points as the Heat rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit for a 109-100 win over Indiana.
"Hopefully, one day, we can put a string of wins together," Wade said. "But right now, we're just going to keep taking it one game at a time, trying to win each game and get better every night. That's all we can do."
Wade hasn't scored more points in back-to-back games since totaling 81 from March 29-April 1, 2006.
His best three-game total is 117 points from March 8-12, 2006, but the Rockets (9-5) would figure to make it difficult for Wade to break that mark. Houston allows 90.0 points per game - right behind league-best Boston at 89.9 - and has given up 87.4 ppg while going 5-2 in its last seven contests.
The Rockets kicked off a three-game road trip Friday with a 103-91 victory over Washington, overcoming a seven-point deficit after three quarters by outscoring the Wizards 33-14 in the final period. A night later in Orlando, the Magic scored 53 points in the first half, but Houston clamped down after halftime and Yao Ming finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in a 100-95 win.
"We did what we wanted to do offensively," coach Rick Adelman said. "If we get the ball into Yao, it opens up a lot of things. He has such an impact on the game."
While Houston will have its hands full with Wade, who averaged 32.0 points against the Rockets last season, the Heat will have quite a challenge in dealing with Yao. He's averaging 24.8 points on 61.9 percent shooting in his last four games against Miami.
Another issue for the Heat is getting rookie forward Michael Beasley back on track. The No. 2 overall draft pick scored in double figures in nine consecutive games from Oct. 31-Nov. 16, but hasn't topped 10 points in two of his last three contests.
The Rockets hope Tracy McGrady is starting to pick it up offensively. McGrady failed to score in double figures in four of six games earlier this month - something that happened only six times last season - but he's averaging 17.7 points in his last three contests.
Yao, who missed the final two months of last season with a broken foot, is happy to pick up the slack for McGrady.
"Tracy did so much for our team last year when I was out so I'm trying to pay him back," Yao said.
Houston has lost four of five in Miami.
