The Portland Trail Blazers will meet the Miami Heat on Monday night in an NBA game FREE Live streaming online from the American Airlines Arena in Miami at 7:30 PM ET
There's plenty of frustration circling around the Miami Heat, who are watching their chance to grab the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed slip away in a stretch where they're struggling to get stops.
The Trail Blazers are having even deeper issues on the defensive end.
A banged-up LeBron James will try to help the Heat climb out of their funk Monday night against the Trail Blazers, who will play a sixth straight game without LaMarcus Aldridge as they try to solve their road woes.
Indiana has dropped six of its last 11 games, leaving the door open for Miami (47-21) to steal home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs, but it hasn't been able to take advantage. The Heat's 105-95 loss at New Orleans on Saturday was their seventh in 11 games, the last three of which have come to clubs that will be home for the postseason.
The Blazers might feel the same way considering their already shaky defense has been even worse of late. Portland has given up 110.1 points per game while dropping six of nine, ceding its spot in the West's top four in the process.
The Blazers' latest effort was especially ugly, as they allowed Charlotte to shoot 52.1 percent Saturday in a 124-94 loss to start this five-game trip -- their fifth road defeat in the last six games.
"You don't want to just dismiss it as one of those games," coach Terry Stotts said. "You want to learn from it. But losing by 30 points, we don't have the luxury not to play better."
They'll have to play without Aldridge again Monday -- and possibly for longer. The All-Star went through extended shooting drills on Saturday morning but by Sunday afternoon Stotts had ruled him out against the Heat due to his back issues.
That could give Miami a big edge on the interior, where it outscored Portland in the paint 60-32 in the first meeting without James.
The game will be live streaming online at www.nbalivestreamfree.net
