T’wolves aim to turn down Heat

The Heat fell out of first place in their division on Wednesday after a 96-83 setback to Toronto. The Wizards, meanwhile, topped Philadelphia to jump a half-game ahead of Miami in the standings.

Miami has also played one more game than Washington, which hosts Toronto tonight. However, a Heat win and a Wizards loss to the Raptors would temporarily vault Miami back into the top spot.

The Heat and Wizards meet once more on April 11th at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 17 points with six rebounds and Eddie Jones donated 12 points in the loss to the Raptors that was the third in four games for the Heat. James Posey added eight points and 10 boards.

Alonzo Mourning scored eight points to tie Glen Rice for first place on Miami’s career points list (9,248).

The Heat continue a three-game road trip tonight. The team concludes the trek in Detroit on Sunday and are 14-21 as the visitor this season.

Miami took its first meeting with Minnesota on March, a 105-91 win that saw O’Neal net a season-high 32 points to go along with nine rebounds. The Heat have won three of the last four in the series, but has lost six straight at Minnesota.

Minnesota is 12th overall in the West, four games out of a playoff spot. The Timberwolves, though, lost for the third time in four games on Wednesday after being beaten by the Jazz, 108-102.

Kevin Garnett finished with 25 points and eight rebounds and Ricky Davis added 18 points and eight assists for in the loss.

Minnesota is 20-14 as the host this season and plays in Orlando on Sunday.