The Miami Heat are on yet another impressive winning streak and will look to keep their dominance over the league going in a Saturday matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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The visiting Heat try to record just their second double-digit win streak of the past seven seasons Saturday night when they go for a 12th straight regular-season victory over the 76ers.
Miami (38-14) is pulling away in the Eastern Conference thanks to a nine-game winning streak that includes victories over the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City, the team it defeated in last year's NBA finals. Including those two wins, each of the last six have been decided by double figures.
The Heat, who are closing a four-game road trip, are averaging 105.2 points on 51.4 percent shooting over the last nine games. Their only longer win streak since the start of the 2006-07 season was a 12-game run Nov. 29-Dec. 18, 2010.
The defense was superb in Thursday's 86-67 win at Chicago, yielding a season low in scoring and forcing 27 turnovers while limiting the Bulls to 37.3 percent from the field. Opponents are averaging 92.7 points and 17.8 turnovers during the Heat's winning streak.
Meanwhile, the 76ers (22-30) have dropped four of five while averaging 85.0 points on 40.1 percent shooting. The All-Star break didn't seem to help, returning Wednesday only to see their losing streak reach three games with a 94-87 defeat at Minnesota.
Coach Doug Collins realizes they'll have to play much better to have a chance against the Heat.
"I never put any more on one win over another," Collins said. "Miami is playing fantastic basketball. They've won nine in a row. They're very, very active defensively. Everybody talks about their offense, but the best part of who they are is their defense."
Jrue Holiday is averaging 14.0 points -- five below his season average -- over the past three games while hitting 35.4 percent from the field. The All-Star guard scored 9.0 per game and shot 30.8 percent in last season's series with the Heat.
