The Heat are back home after yet another unexpected loss, while the Blazers are fresh-off snapping a six-game skid.

HOME TEAM: Miami Heat (25-10, 16-1 at home)

It’s been a great campaign for the Miami Heat but they have now dropped two of their last three games against teams with a losing record, both of which were blowouts. The good thing, though, is they are back home tomorrow, where they have won all but one of 17 contests this season.

The Heat have the solo lead for the best home record in the league and it’s pretty evident thanks to their plus 11.6 on points per game against opponents whenever at home (115.7 to 104.1). In their most recent home game, they also held the Toronto Raptors to just 31.5%-shooting.

Hopefully, though, the offense can return to its fine form. It’s been dismal over the last two games as they have shot 25.7% from three and 39.1% overall. In that span, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were the only starters to reach double-figures, quite far from the scattered scoring punch that the Heat have been boasting all season long.

ROAD TEAM: Portland Trail Blazers (15-21, 7-12 on the road)

The Blazers just snapped a six-game losing streak on Saturday. They won on the road against the Washington Wizards, 122-101, which is good, except the Wizards are depleted, lottery-bound, and own the worst defense in the NBA. It didn’t exactly ease the ugliness of the recent skid that had them getting beat by the likes of the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans, two of the worst teams from the two conferences.

All of the upside for Rip City is getting ripped out quick. Sure, the scoring of Damian Lillard (26.9 PPG) and CJ McCollum (22.3 PPG) are still there. Heck, even the recently unsignable Carmelo Anthony (16.2 PPG) is having a solid showing. But the body language cannot really lie: this Blazers core is tired from all the short playoff runs and it needs to be overhauled or get reinforced heavily.

We’ll continue seeing flashes here and there because of Lillard and McCollum’s scoring abilities but it’s really tough to win if your backcourt is undersized, defensively limited, and lacking the balance of the contending teams.

PREDICTION:

Expect the Heat to be better than their last two games (84.5 PPG in that span). We should see a more patient and disciplined attack inside and out. The guards, particularly Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn, should try to be aggressive on testing Lillard.

Former Heat player Hassan Whiteside could start aggressive from the jump as he’ll approach tomorrow as a revenge game but I see Miami winning it in the end, 115-108.