The Heat are 4-2 since Jimmy Butler returned to the lineup on Jan. 30
Heat (10-14) at Rockets (11-13)
• Miami enters Thursday on a three-game win streak. During the streak, Kelly Olynyk has averaged 17.3 points on 61.3% shooting from the field, 54.2% on 3-pointers, and has scored at least 15 points in each game. This season, the Heat are 7-1 when Olynyk scores 15 or more points.
• Houston enters Thursday looking to snap a three-game losing streak that includes the team’s two most lopsided defeats of the season as they fell to Charlotte by 25 and New Orleans by 29 on back-to-back nights this week. The Rockets have averaged 100.3 points over the past three games, down nearly 11 points from their 111.2 ppg through the first 21 games of the season.
• Duncan Robinson ranks 11th in the NBA with 3.3 3-pointers made per game. His 39.4% shooting on 3-pointers (72nd in NBA) this season is down 5.2 percentage points from last season’s 44.6% (4th in NBA). A contributing factor to this drop is the attention Robinson is getting from opposing defenses this season. Last season, 67.3% of Robinson’s 3-point attempts came with the closest defender at least four feet away. This season that percentage has dropped to 58.1%.
• The Rockets rank third in the NBA in scoring on isolation plays at 9.9 points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 46.6% (13th in NBA). The Heat allow the fourth-most points on isolation plays (7.4 ppg) and the third-highest eFG% (51.4%).
• Miami’s Tyler Herro ranks fourth in the league in distance traveled per game (2.77 miles) and third in average speed (4.62 miles per hour). Herro ranks sixth among guards in contested shots (7.3 per game).
Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points in Portland’s win over Philadelphia on Feb. 4.
76ers (18-7) at Trail Blazers (13-10)
• The Sixers enter Thursday having won two straight and six of their last seven, with their lone loss during that stretch coming against Portland on Feb. 4. Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. combined for 46 points to lead the short-handed Blazers (no Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum) to a 121-105 win despite 37 points from Joel Embiid. Enes Kanter grabbed 18 rebounds to help Portland to a 53-37 advantage on the boards and 22-8 edge in second-chance points.
• Ben Simmons leads the NBA in deflections (4.0 per game) and ranks sixth in steals (1.7 per game). The Sixers rank seventh in opponent turnovers per game (15.3) and convert those miscues into 17.3 points off turnovers per game.
• Portland’s Gary Trent Jr. scores 0.482 points per touch, the highest mark among the 223 players that average at least 20 minutes per game so far this season. Joel Embiid leads the Sixers at 0.396 points per touch (25th among qualified players).
• The Sixers are a league-best 11-1 in games that feature clutch time (score inside five points in final five minutes), outscoring their opponents by 51 points in 44 clutch minutes. The Blazers are 8-3 in clutch games, with Damian Lillard leading the way. He has 54 clutch points (7th in NBA) on 15-25 (60%) shooting — the highest mark of the 53 players with at least 15 clutch field goal attempts.
• Both the Sixers (56.7%, 27th) and the Blazers (49.7%, 30th) rank in the bottom four in the league in assist percentage, with Portland being the only team in the league that scores more baskets unassisted than off an assist.
