The San Antonio Spurs visit the Miami Heat on Tuesday in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals, minus LeBron James. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET; you can watch the live stream below.
Seemingly against all odds, Miami (34-39) is seventh in the East. Playing in a watered down conference helps, but the fact the Heat are still alive in the playoff race despite dealing with a slew of injuries is impressive. Injuries again plagued Miami on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. Luol Deng Michael Beasley left in the first half with injuries, and Hassan Whiteside and Chris Anderson were both still unavailable. Even with the depleted roster, the Heat managed to escape with a 109-102 win.
"Just being strong-willed," said Heat star Dwyane Wade, who scored 40 points in the victory, according to ESPN. "We didn't have that many guys coming into the game, and then we lost two coming out of halftime ... but you have to do what you have to do. We had to get a win here at home, I'm glad we were able to pull it out."
Although San Antonio (47-26) hasn't played as well as last year, at least some of Miami's players believe the Gregg Popovich-coached team is still the best in the league.
"You always have to get up to play the Spurs," Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. "I don't know what their situation is in the West, but in my mind they're still the best team in the NBA. We've got a huge, huge task ahead of us on Tuesday."
The Spurs, who sit sixth in the Western Conference, are on a three-game winning streak after their 103-89 win on Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 21 points and six assists.
Watch the live stream via TNT HERE.
