GAMENIGHT

Miami Heat (28-13) @ Brooklyn Nets (27-18)

Barclays Center 8:00

TV: ESPN/YES – RADIO: WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM

The Brooklyn Nets are 17-0 against below .500 teams although tonight’s matchup against the World Champion Miami Heat will be a different test.  The Nets will be playing on National TV on ESPN and are trying to break a streak of 12 straight losses to the Heat.

[quote_box]P.J. – “They’re the best team in the league until somebody beats them,” Carlesimo said Tuesday after practice. “Maybe when the year’s out and we’ve played 82 games, somebody will have a better record than them. But they’re still the champions and they’re still going to the finals on a pretty regular basis, so until somebody knocks them off, this to me is the barometer you measure against and we haven’t shown yet that we can beat these guys. So that’s a huge challenge for us.”[/quote_box]

The Heat have not been the dominant team as of late that they were early in the season and have had a tough time on the road in recent weeks going 3-6 in their last nine games on the road.  They are 10-10 on the road this year and 18-3 at home.

The Nets have won eight in a row at Barclays Center and are holding opponents to 42.4 percent shooting in the process.  This needs to continue tonight if the want to beat the league leading Heat.

The Nets have tied a franchise record for the most wins in January (11) and can equal their best total in any month with a victory over the Heat Wednesday.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME: Gerald Wallace  vs LeBron James

Gerald Wallace needs to bring his A-game tonight and be ready for a battle of wills with Lebron James and try to limit the second and third chances for the Heat.  Wallace has the body type and tenacity to slow down James but it has to be a team effort to not turn the ball over and hit their 3-pointers.  James is averaging 20.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 55.6 percent against the Nets this year alone.

STAT FOR TONIGHT: Heat have won 12 straight games against the Nets which is their longest current winning streak against any team in the NBA.

Nets:

Tornike Shengelia (concussion symptoms) out indefinitely

Deron Williams (Flu-like symptoms) is probable

Heat:

None