The contrast is stark.
When the Miami Heat plays host to the Houston Rockets on Friday night, it will be a battle between two teams who have been headed in different directions over recent weeks.
Houston (45-25) is on a season-best eight-game win streak.
Miami (29-40) is on a nine-game losing streak that is the Heat’s longest since they dropped 12 in a row in the 2007-08 season.
The Heat are tied for second in a dubious NBA statistical category with 17 losses after blowing leads in the fourth quarter.
Miami’s most recent loss came on Wednesday as Detroit’s Cade Cunningham banked in a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left, giving the Pistons a 116-113 victory.
“There is no way to explain some of this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“The banked shot at the end … we just have to find more resolve.”
Spoelstra said “there can be a beauty” in dealing with adversity. He also said he has been pleased with the leadership shown by his two top players, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
“This group rallies around each other, and that is what I fully expect on Friday,” Spoelstra said. “Bam and Tyler have brought it from an urgency, edge and leadership standpoint.
“I heard their voices from the first second of shootaround (on Wednesday), and that went on the entire game (against Detroit).
“Bam is playing so damn hard on both sides. He is our emotional leader.”
Meanwhile, the Rockets are coming off a 116-108 road win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
The Rockets entered the day ranked last in the NBA in free-throw percentage (74.0). Yet they made 29 of 32 free throws for 90.6 percent against Orlando.
“We’re playing better and more consistent across the board,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the victory.
After missing the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, the Rockets are a virtual lock to return this year.
Houston has a combination of young, emerging stars such as Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard; and tough veterans such as Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks.
Thompson and Sheppard — Houston’s first-round picks over the past two years — are on the injured list. Sheppard is out due to a fractured right thumb. Thompson (ankle) is due back as early as Friday but likely a bit later.
Green, a gifted scorer as a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, leads Houston with 21.4 points per game.
Sengun, a 6-11 center, is second in scoring (19.2) and first in rebounds (10.5). Sengun, while not a defensive anchor or a 3-point shooter, is a gifted passer for his position, ranking second on the team in assists (4.9).
VanVleet leads Houston in assists at 5.6 per game. An All-Star and a 20-point scorer in 2021-22, VanVleet — now 31 — averages 14.2 points.
Brooks, 29, averages 14.0 points. A 6-6 forward, he made the NBA’s All-Defensive second team in 2023.
