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The Miami Heat and Orlando Magic will meet Wednesday to close out the NBA regular season. The teams are moving in opposite directions; the Heat have their eye on a championship while the Magic are in a rebuilding stage. The Heat are coming off a 96-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers despite LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all sitting out.
The Heat will enter Wednesday’s contest with 65 wins, the most in the NBA. The Magic will look for their 9th win on the road. The Magic have struggled to get much of anything going this season, winning only 20 games thus far. The Magic, who hold the worst record in the entire NBA (20-61), will be the front-runner for the league’s top lottery pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
With a young nucleus and a boat load of draft picks, the Magic will look to significantly improve their roster. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn isn’t focused on how the season ends, but rather how they will go about improving the roster.
The Heat have secured the first seed in the Eastern Conference, and they’ll more than likely rest the Big Three in their final regular season game. Locking up home court advantage throughout the playoffs and securing the No.1 seed has given the Heat plenty of opportunities to rest players. LeBron James said that the time off is nice, but the ultimate goal is to improve as an all-around basketball player.
Miami enters the contest against the Magic with a seven-game winning streak. The Magic will look to avoid being swept in the regular season against the Heat as well.
