Heat Hit Low, Sixers Surging

On Wednesday night the Miami Heat continued their 2007-08 dry spell, as the team reached a new low. The Heat scored just 54 points in their game against the Toronto Raptors, and that is the 3rd lowest point total scored since the shot clock was introduced. Luckily, the Chicago Bulls have the lowest point total, 49, and it came against the Heat many years ago. So the Heat are now on two sides of that record, the winning and losing sides. Unfortunately, this year is a losing effort overall. Dwayne Wade is done for the season and undergoing treatment for injury rehab. Shaq exited thanks to a trade with Phoenix, leaving Shawn Marion "The Matrix" to be "The One" for the team.

The bright spot is the Heat will be eligible for a top draft pick thanks to their poor record. Best guess is the Heat will be hoping to get a big man out of the 2008 draft, such as Roy Hibbert from Georgetown or Brook Lopez from Stanford, if either is available. First the Heat need to finish out a miserable 2007-08 season. Then they really need the luck of the draw in the lottery to get the #1 pick. If the Heat get a pick below #5 it would be more icing on a really bad cake. Check out Fox Sports' article on NCAA tournament scouting. See NBADraft.net's projected 2008 picks.

In other news, New Jersey took over the 8 spot thanks to a tie breaker with the Sixers. Philly may be surprising many fans that they are even in the chase this year, or it's a good indication of how bad the lower tier of East Playoff teams is. They had a familiar face back in town for their latest game, as Allen Iverson returned to fan appreciation in Philadelphia. However, the Sixers continued surging and defeated the Nuggets 115-113. Andre Miller had a nice game with 28 points and 12 assists. Read more on the game here.

Expect teams such as Atlanta, Philly, New Jersey and the Bulls to be jockeying for those 7-8 spots as the season draws to a close.