The Miami Heat were 5-12 and staring at a tough three-game road trip. It featured back-to-back games at Denver and at Utah, followed by a match-up against Portland’s explosive scoring duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. A 1-2 finish was not only expected, but would have been welcomed.
However, the Heat surprised fans and pundits alike by sweeping the first two games. And that was despite playing in the unforgiving altitude out west, and missing almost half their roster. Further, they held a six-point lead in Portland with three minutes left, before running out of gas. The Heat almost returned to Miami with a surprising three-game winning streak.