HHH GameTime Preview: Heat Visit Dallas

Tonight at 7:30PM, the Heat will play the Mavericks in the AmericanAirlines Center in Dallas, Texas. This will be the first of two contests this season between the two, with the rematch occuring in Miami on January 30th. After tonight's game, the Heat will return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. After tonight's game, the Mavs will remain in Dallas to host the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

The last time Miami and Dallas met was on February 18th last season. LeBron James led the way, scoring 42 points on 16-of-23 shooting, along with nine rebounds and six assists. Chris Bosh added 22 with five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Chris Andersen scored 18 points off the bench in a 117-106 Heat win. For the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki led the team with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Vince Carter scored 15 (mostly on free throws) with seven boards, and three other Mavericks each scored a dozen (Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon, Brandan Wright). * Box Score * Full Recap

I thought we played extremely hard and our heart was in the right place all night. We just had some untimely misses, some untimely turnovers, and that really hurt us. They are a team that takes advantage of those and they make you pay an exponential price. - Rick Carlisle

Mavs Moneyball has more on Dallas.

Last night, the Heat hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves and walked away with a 102-92 victory. Dwayne Wade scored 25 points with eight assists, Chris Bosh scored 24 with seven rebounds, Luol Deng kicked in 14, and Norris Cole scored 11 with six assists. The Timberwolves were paced by Nikola Pekovic, who scored 19 points with 11 rebounds. Thaddeus Young had 16 points and six boards, Gorqui Dieng had 12 points with six rebounds, and Shabazz Muhammad had 13 points in 11 minutes. * Box Score * Full Recap

Guys really took it to heart that we really had to try to make the game easier for each other, get the ball popping. - Erik Spoelstra

Canis Hoopus has your Timberwolves.

Dallas’ last game would see the Mavericks defeat the hosting Utah Jazz, 105-82 on Friday night. Dirk Nowitzki led all players with 27 points, adding 10 rebounds for the Mavs. Tyson Chandler scored 15 points with 13 boards, and Brandan Wright had 12 points with five rebounds off the bench. Alec Burks led the Jazz with 14 points, Gordon Hayward scored a dozen with five rebounds and four assists, Trey Burke scored 11, and Enes Kanter collected 10 rebounds in the loss. * Box Score * Full Recap

Our defense has been solid over halves, but it hasn't been solid over whole games. We wanted to make sure we'd keep up and keep pressure on them. - Dirk Nowitzki

Head over to SLC Dunk for your fix on the Jazz.

GameTime: 7:30PM

Where2Watch: League Pass, FSSW, Sun Sports

Where2Listen: 103.3 ESPN, 104.3 The Ticket

All-Time Record: Miami is 26-29 all-time against Dallas.

Current Record

Miami Heat: 4-2, .667, on pace for 55-27. Second in the Southeast Division, fourth in the Eastern Conference, tied for eighth in the NBA. Last Five: W-W-L-L-W. Playoff Odds: 72.8%

Dallas Mavericks: 4-2, .667, on pace for 55-27. Third in the Southeast Division, tied for fifth in the Western Conference, tied for eighth in the NBA. Last Five: W-W-W-L-W. Playoff Odds: 72.5%

Milestones

Tonight, Chris Bosh will tie LeBron James in 15th by appearing in his 294th game for Miami. He also became the 12th Heat player to appear for 10,000 minutes last night. Udonis Haslem just became the second player to join the 20,000 minute club. His 14 minutes last night put him at 20,001. Also last night, Norris Cole became the 29th Heat player to play over 5,000 minutes with the club.

With one more three-pointer, Chris Bosh will tie Brian Shaw in 32nd, with his 121st with Miami. Norris Cole needs two to tie Rex Chapman in 30th, with 125. Cole needs 10 assists to tie Rony Seikaly in 20th place with his 573rd assist. Two more steals will draw him into a tie for 23rd with Jamal Mashburn, at 185. He'll tie Rory Sparrow in 36th with 23 points, giving him 1,487.

One more block will see Mario Chalmers tie Dan Majerle with 68, in 35th all-time. Udonis Haslem needs two to give him 233, which would tie him in 10th place with John Salley.

Elsewhere

Orlando Magic vs. Brooklyn Nets, 3:30PM
Utah Jazz vs. Detroit Pistons, 6PM
Sacramento Kings vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7PM
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors, 7PM
Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns, 8PM
Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trailblazers, 9PM
Charlotte Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30PM

Miami's Starters

PG - Norris Cole
SG - Dwyane Wade
C - Chris Bosh
SF - Luol Deng
PF - Shawne Williams

Heat Leaders

PPG - Chris Bosh - 24.2, Dwyane Wade - 19.7, Luol Deng - 13.2
RPG - Chris Bosh - 10.3, Shawne Williams - 5.3, Dwyane Wade - 3.7
APG - Dwyane Wade - 6.3, Mario Chalmers - 3.5, Norris Cole - 3.0
SPG - Mario Chalmers - 1.5, Dwyane Wade, Shabazz Napier, Luol Deng - 1.3
BPG - Shawne Williams - 0.8, Dwyane Wade - 0.7, Justin Hamilton - 0.5

Join us a half hour prior to the tip for our game thread, and check back later for the recap afterward.