When the Magic head to Toronto on Sunday, Orlando understands there’s a lot at stake.

Not only will each and every of the final nine games of the regular season affect the race for the NBA playoffs, but Sunday’s matchup will also determine the winner of the three-game season series between the Eastern Conference foes.

That’s because the Raptors won the first meeting of the season at Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 29 by overcoming a 21-point deficit and the Magic punched back with a 10-point win roughly a month later at Kia Center.

If Orlando and Toronto end the regular season with the same record — the No. 9 Magic (39-34) entered Saturday’s slate of games only two games back of the No. 5 Raptors (41-32) — the winner of Sunday’s game will own the head-to-head tiebreaker in the standings.

It’s the type of advantage that could potentially serve as the difference maker between securing a guaranteed playoff spot as a top-six seed in the East or falling down into the Play-In Tournament. Seeds 7-10 in each conference compete in the Play-In for the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs.

Bottom line, Sunday matters. A lot.

“It’s a monumental game,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said. “Two teams fighting for playoff seeding on the road — I’m excited for the challenge.”

Added Magic coach Jamahl Mosley: “You’ve got to find a way. You’ve definitely got to find a way in that situation.”

That challenge includes Toronto’s top three scorers in Brandon Ingram (21.4 points), RJ Barrett (18.9) and Montverde Academy grad Scottie Barnes (18.5), who’ve helped the Raptors lead the league in fastbreak scoring this season (18.5 fastbreak points per night topped NBA.com entering Saturday).

Another area on offense where the Raptors have success comes in the paint, which could cause problems for Orlando’s defense.

Toronto scores 45.7% of its nightly points in the paint (a percentage that’s fifth-most in the league) and they average 52.1 paint points per contest, which ranks tied-sixth league-wide.

Allowing 50.9 points in the paint per game, Orlando’s defense ranks 17th in opponent paint scoring and 18th in opponent fastbreak scoring (15.4 fastbreak points allowed per night).

Still, much like Magic, the Raptors have gone on a bumpy ride since the NBA All-Star break.

Toronto is 9-9 in their 18 games since the league break, while Orlando is 11-9 after it snapped a six-game losing streak against the Kings on Thursday. The Raptors, who took down the Pelicans on Friday, are 2-3 in their past five games with losses against the Nuggets, Suns and Clippers in that stretch.

The Magic will still be without Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management), Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain) and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) on the road again.

“We’re in a tight race, and we’ve put ourselves into a tough position losing six in a row,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said. “So, we’ve got to dig ourselves out of it. We don’t want to be in the Play-In but that’s where we’re at right now.

“So, we’ve got to find a way to get out of there and get some momentum going into the playoffs,” he added. “We’ve got nine games left to do that, and we’ve just got to be on our Ps and Qs every night.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

Magic at Raptors

When: 6 p.m., Sunday, Scotiabank Arena

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida

My column may be a few days late, but as the saying goes, better late than never. There is no more time to delay the hockey schedule does not wait so let us jump in.

The first two to fall

In my season predictions I picked four teams that missed the playoffs last year to make it this year. So far, two of the four teams I picked are already eliminated.

Vancouver was the first team to be eliminated. The Canucks came into this season with all the drama of last season behind them. Thatcher Demko was healthy, they made some questionable moves but, overall the team seemed to be in a good spot. Not one single thing went right.

The team has no player with 50 points, no 20-goal scorer, they have scored the least amount of goals in the league and have the most goals against by a wide margin.

The Canucks have tried Band-Aid after Band-Aid and none of it worked. Lukas Reichel (14 GP, 0 G, 1A), David Kampf (38 GP, 2 G, 4 A), Mackenzie MacEachern (8 GP, 1 G, 3 A) and 2016-17 Canucks “legend” Joseph LaBate for a game.

It has been ridiculous. From the line deployment, to coaching decisions, to not trading Evander Kane, all of it is the problem.

This season is a culmination of not doing a proper rebuild after the Sedin twins retired. Vancouver was promising, with Elias Pettersson (the forward), Brock Boeser, Demko and of course, Quinn Hughes.

Hughes has been the story of the team this year. Hughes was the first causality of the so-called rebuild and everything spiraled after that.

Hopefully the Canucks stick to their words and actually start a rebuild. Either way, it is a dark time in Vancouver.

On the other side of the continent, is a very similar story.

Like the Canucks, I picked the New York Rangers to get back to the playoffs. Like Vancouver, it all fell down.

Ironically, the Rangers acquired two Canucks last year in JT Miller and Carson Soucy.

Miller has been a disaster and has been bad on the ice only scoring 42 points, compared to his 103-point season just two years ago.

The rest of the offense has been a letdown too, mostly on account of the team not developing Alexis Lafreniere properly.

The team has gone through so much turnover the last few seasons and that has led to a product on the ice that just does not mesh.

The Rangers sent a letter to fans earlier this season announcing a retool. What that means with the makeup of the team and not selling at the deadline? Who knows?

Ovi continues to make history

Alex Ovechkin has hit another goal. He becomes the second player in NHL history to score 1,000 playoff and regular season goals.

His 1,000th goal came in non-other-than typical Ovi fashion. In the third period of a game between the Washington Capitals and the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, the Capitals got a power play. Ovechkin placed himself in his office (the top of the left face-off dot) and fired a slap shot home for the goal.

With this milestone checked off, there is only one more for Ovechkin to look toward, 1,000 regular season goals. As of March 27, he is 74 away so conceivably, he would have to play another two season to get it.

Knowing Ovechkin, there might be a chance he continues to play to chase the record. Ovi is 40 and he is slowing down, so the cards are not in his favor.

The question also is, does hitting 1,000 regular season goals do anything for his legacy? He is already the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, he has a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smyth, the Calder and a litany of other trophies.

Personally, there is nothing Ovechkin can do to increase his standing all-time other than another Cup. He is already a top 10-15 player all-time so, another goal-scoring record does not move the needle too far.

Nonetheless, you have to wonder if his career does not get sidetracked by shortened seasons and lockouts, if he would have hit the 1,000 mark by now.

Pacific Division is the worst division

Historically, the Pacific Division has been one of the most competitive. In the 2010s, the division was home to some of the top NHL teams. Now the division is by far the worst in the league, with only one team having more wins than total losses.

The division is in this mess because of several factors. For one, half of the division is in some point of a rebuild. Anaheim, the only team that has more wins than losses, has just finished its rebuild, Calgary began its rebuild this year, San Jose is on the precipice of breaking out of its rebuild and the Canucks, well you read about them earlier.

Two teams, Seattle and Los Angeles, are stuck in the middle. Not bad enough to be a bottom feeder, but not good enough to be a playoff team.

Finally there is Vegas and Edmonton. Both are paying their dues after years of playoff runs. They both are playoff contenders, but not Cup contenders anymore.

With all of that, the division pulled of a historic feat last week. The division became the first division to have six-plus teams play on the same day and have all of them lose by multiple goals, twice.

Most divisions have had a day where all of its teams lose in on one day, but never twice in one season (or week for that matter) and never by multi-goal deficits.

It really is a testament to how bad this division has become. It is a “boys club” situation. Everyone is fine being mediocre, or bad because at the end of the day, they get to enjoy it all with their buddies that manage the other teams.

It is what has led the the Canucks’ and Flames’ demise, the Kraken being a middling team since their inception and why the Oilers are slowly fading.

It will be interesting to see how this mess of a division performs in the playoffs. With my luck, one of these teams will go on to win the Stanley Cup after saying how bad they are.

CLEVELAND – The Miami Heat’s desire remains to get to the playoffs for a franchise-record seventh consecutive season.

Friday night’s game offered a reminder of what can happen when you get there as an overmatched opponent.

Last year, the Heat were swept out of their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers by an NBA-record margin of 30.5 points in those four games.

Friday night, with the Cavaliers closer to full strength than they were in Wednesday night’s home loss to the Heat, Cleveland rolled to a 149-128 dismantling of Erik Spoelstra’s team at Rocket Arena, as if the two sides were back in the 2025 playoffs, this time with the Cavaliers’ lead peaking at 36.

Making it to the playoffs took a decided step back for the Heat with their sixth loss in their last seven games, still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference play-in race, at No. 10 in the conference.

With the Cavaliers injecting the 7-foot length of Jarrett Allen and the outside shooting of Max Strus back into their rotation, after the two sat out Wednesday night’s 120-103 loss to the Heat, it was a game decided even before halftime, a juncture when Cleveland led 81-46.

Strus, who scored 22 in the first half, led Cleveland with 29 points. Allen, who had missed the previous 10 games with a knee issue, returned to add 18 points and 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes.

For the Heat, there was little in response, save for a 20-point performance from Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Four Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:

1. Game flow: It was humbling practically from the outset, including a stretch in the first quarter when the Cavaliers got 16 consecutive points from the combined scoring of former Heat players Strus and Thomas Bryant.

That helped stake Cleveland to a 40-27 lead after the first quarter.

And then came the avalanche, with the Heat outscored 41-19 in the second period, a quarter the Heat shot 1 of 10 on 3-pointers, allowed .586 Cleveland shooting from the field, with six turnovers in the period to one by the Cavaliers.

The 35-point halftime lead was Cleveland’s largest this season, 11 more than their previous high.

Then, to add insult to injury, the Cavaliers carried a 109-87 lead into the fourth when Cleveland’s Evan Mobley ended the third quarter with a successful 32-foot buzzer-beating heave. Mobley closed with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

2. Strus loose: Held out of Wednesday night’s game, much to his chagrin as he regains his stride from an offseason foot injury, Strus made his first four 3-pointers after entering in the opening period.

Strus’ 12 points in the opening period represented his highest scoring quarter in his six games this season. His 10-point second period was his second-highest quarter.

With Strus held out, the Cavaliers made only three 3-pointers in Wednesday night’s first half. This time they were 5 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with 12 3-pointers by the intermission.

The 22 points were one off the high-scoring half of Strus’ career, when he had 23 for the Heat against the Magic on Dec. 17, 2021.

He closed 10 of 14 from the field, 8 of 11 on 3-pointers, with it his highest-scoring game with the Cavaliers since leaving the Heat in 2023 free agency.

3. About it: About all that could be said from the standpoint of the Heat’s starting lineup is Bam Adebayo closed with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 16 rebounds in his 31 minutes, before sitting out the final period.

In addition, Adebayo extended his streak of games with at least one steal to 15, making it the longest such streak of his career.

4.Onward: The Heat conclude their three-game trip Sunday against the Indiana Pacers, before returning for a three-game homestand against the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.

_____

Mar. 26—DETROIT — Jacob Bernard-Docker signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent last summer.

Apparently, the Red Wings like what they've seen.

Bernard-Docker signed a two-year extension with the Red Wings this week, taking him through the 2027-28 season. His contract is worth $3.2 million.

Bernard-Docker has played in 55 games for Detroit this season, tallying four assists, a plus-5 rating and averaging 15:00 of ice time per game.

The Canmore, Alta., product is in his sixth NHL season.

He debuted with the Ottawa Senators in 2021 after his junior season at UND ended.

Bernard-Docker, 25, was traded from Ottawa to Buffalo last season. He played 15 games for the Sabres, who did not send him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Bernard-Docker signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with Detroit for this season. That will jump to $1.6 million next season, when his new contract begins.

Bernard-Docker came to UND in 2018 from the Okotoks Oilers in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

He played three seasons for the Fighting Hawks, suiting up in 95 games. He tallied 15 goals and 60 points. The first-round, No. 26 overall draft pick of the Senators was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's Defensive Defenseman of the Year in 2020-21.

Bernard-Docker helped the Fighting Hawks win back-to-back Penrose Cups as NCHC regular-season champions in 2020 and 2021.

Bernard-Docker is scheduled to play in his 200th NHL regular-season game on Friday against Buffalo.

The Nets spent Wednesday night at Chase Center doing just about everything that usually wins games and still walked out with another loss.

Brooklyn forced a season-high 26 turnovers, set a season high with 17 steals and got a massive lift from its bench. None of it was enough. The Nets fell to the Golden State Warriors 109-106, dropped to 17-56 and lost their ninth straight despite an incredibly active defensive performance. The loss also pushed Brooklyn into second place in the NBA draft lottery standings, per Tankathon, one game behind the Indiana Pacers for the worst record in the league.

Ziaire Williams led the Nets with 19 points and a career-high six steals, continuing what’s been a tear lately. Jalen Wilson scored 15 points; Malachi Smith had 12 in the first game of his second 10-day contract and Chaney Johnson added 11 before fouling out with 55 seconds left. Brooklyn’s bench outscored Golden State’s 51-18, but possessions didn’t go the Nets’ way late.

Gui Santos carried the Warriors with 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting. Golden State played without Stephen Curry for the 22nd straight game. Brooklyn was missing Michael Porter Jr., Noah Clowney, Nolan Traoré, Egor Dëmin, Day’Ron Sharpe and Danny Wolf.

The game had a strange feel from the opening tip. Golden State scored efficiently, shooting 52.9% in the first quarter, but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Brooklyn turned 10 Warriors turnovers into eight extra points in the first, which is how the Nets carried a 30-25 lead into the second quarter even while the Warriors were making shots. Williams and Josh Minott had two steals apiece, and Williams, back in his home state of California, set the early tone by living at the line and scoring nine first-quarter points to lead all scorers.

As the Warriors kept giving it away, Brooklyn’s lead grew. The Nets went up 13 with 5:11 left in the half after Johnson knocked down his first 3-pointer of the night. Golden State chipped away at the line and Brandon Podziemski’s 7-footer cut it to four with 54.4 seconds left, but Minott answered with his second 3 of the half. After Kristaps Porzingis split a pair at the stripe, Smith raced coast to coast, finished at the rim and beat the buzzer, sending Brooklyn into halftime up 58-50.

The Nets shot 52.6% and made seven 3-pointers in the first half. They also forced 15 turnovers while committing nine. They were also getting crushed on the glass, 22-12, but they had built an eight-point cushion anyway.

Then things got tight.

With 8:04 left in the third, Podziemski found Gary Payton II for a transition lob that cut Brooklyn’s lead to four, and Jordi Fernández burned his first timeout of the half. The Nets re-established control with back-to-back 3s from Drake Powell, but the third quarter still turned into a shootout where one matchup mattered more than the turnovers. Santos poured in 15 points in the period and Golden State kept finding him. Brooklyn narrowly won the quarter 28-27, and the Warriors still turned it over nine more times, which the Nets converted into 13 points. That was enough for Brooklyn to take an 86-77 lead into the fourth.

Then Golden State erased it almost instantly. A heavy dose of Podziemski buckets and free throws made it a two-point game with 9:57 left. Payton laid it in with 8:10 remaining to tie it, forcing another Fernández timeout.

The game turned into a possession-by-possession test, and Smith kept bailing Brooklyn out when it needed a shot. He drilled a huge 3 at the 4:08 mark to break a 97-97 tie, then hit an impossible one-legged 20-footer at 3:15 to put the Nets up 102-100. Then it was Ben Saraf’s moment, throwing down a left-handed slam over Draymond Green with 46 seconds left to tie it at 106.

And then it ended poorly for Brooklyn. Jalen Wilson fouled De’Anthony Melton with 24.5 seconds left, and Melton split a pair. Saraf missed a go-ahead layup. Green hit two free throws to make it a three-point game. The Nets never got a tying attempt because Minott threw an errant full-court pass for a turnover.

Williams didn’t play in the final frame.

Brooklyn closes its road trip Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.

En route to the locker room following Minnesota’s dramatic overtime win over Houston, at least one Timberwolves player reportedly could be heard saying “That (stuff) didn’t work, Scott Foster.”

Foster was the crew chief of the officiating crew for a Wolves-Rockets tilt that featured its share of officiating controversy re: calls that were and were not made.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his players “were certainly frustrated,” adding the overtime affair “should’ve ended at regulation.”

He said Julius Randle “clearly” was fouled on his gather during his move to the bucket in the closing seconds of the knotted contest. Finch noted Minnesota attempted 63 shots in the paint, yet received only 10 free-throw attempts to Houston’s 25.

The Rockets, meanwhile, received key whistles in the final five seconds of both regulation and overtime that afforded them the opportunity to tie the game at the free-throw line. However, Durant missed the first attempt of a trip to the stripe with three seconds to play in the extra session with the Rockets trailing by two.

Finch said he’s “never seen” a call like the flagrant whistled on Randle for running through a screener with three minutes to play in regulation.

“They said he sought him out to run him over,” Finch said. “I’ve never seen a flagrant like that. He goes through a screen, they call a foul, fine. That’s clearly a foul. Play on. But a flagrant? I don’t know.”

The call opened the door for a four-point Rockets possession that helped Houston lower its deficit from nine to five.

“Randle was deemed to have run through the screen with force making no attempt to avoid the contact, which was deemed unnecessary,” Foster said in a postgame interview with a pool reporter.

In overtime, Minnesota challenged an offensive foul call against Reid in which Alperen Sengun appeared to still be moving laterally when Reid connected with him, with Reid’s foot also landing on that of the Rockets’ center.

Yet the call stood on the floor, which didn’t surprise Finch – “that one was close … I didn’t think we were going to win it,” he said. But immediately after the replay ruling, the ESPN broadcast appears to show Reid simply saying “he was moving” in regards to Sengun, which induced a quick technical foul call from Foster, which resulted in an ejection.

Foster said Reid “made a statement that questioned the integrity of the crew.”

It wasn’t Foster’s first controversial encounter with the Timberwolves this season. The referee also ejected Anthony Edwards in overtime of Minnesota’s Christmas night loss to Denver.

Yet Finch and the Wolves players were proud of how any gripes with the whistle didn’t affect the team’s approach on the floor. They continued to attack the rack on offense while playing a physical brand of defense.

“Just try to believe in the basketball gods,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “Just keep trying to compete, play winning basketball and control what you can control.”

“Just not worry about the refs, just going to play,” Jaden McDaniels said. “You see, we weren’t worried about them in overtime and came back and won.”

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PHILADELPHIA — In the waning days of this Chicago Bulls season, Patrick Williams has begun to fade out of focus.

The forward is hardly playing. When he makes it onto court, he often flashes a brief, promising display of the same talent that lured the Bulls to select him with the No. 4 draft pick nearly six years ago — a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, a sudden lurch toward the rim for an offensive rebound. Then, just as quickly, Williams dissolves into the background. Easy to miss. Hard to explain. A question that the Bulls seem incapable of answering.

The trade deadline was supposed to offer a change. Or, at the least, an opportunity. The Bulls traded away seven of their most important players, clearing the runway for the remaining young core to earn significant playing time. But even in that environment, Williams can’t win.

Since the All-Star break, Williams has spent 240.8 total minutes on the court. Only five players have logged fewer minutes in that span: two-way players Yuki Kawamura and Lachlan Olbrich, and injured teammates Jaden Ivey, Jalen Smith and Anfernee Simons. Williams tallied five blocks and 25 rebounds in that span. And new addition Leonard Miller — a second-year forward who barely cracked the rotation in Minnesota — has nearly doubled his playing time.

How does the forward handle his plummet down the team’s list of priorities?

“I just try to learn from all of it,” Williams told the Tribune. “That’s where I’m at.”

Williams couldn’t offer a clear-cut reason for his lack of playing time. The forward said he hasn’t talked with the coaching staff or the front office about his role reduction. He’s trying to learn from each game, make the most of the minutes he receives and absorb the feedback given by the coaching staff.

But coach Billy Donovan had a simple explanation: nothing has changed.

In his sixth season, Williams is still struggling with the same weaknesses that plagued the first years of his career. The forward is the longest-tenured player on the Bulls roster. He was the first player drafted under Donovan, the first project to which the coach fully committed himself in Chicago. And six years later, Donovan is still prodding and cajoling the forward to crash the boards and control his dribble and contribute physically to the game.

“It bothers me because there are things I see in him that I want to see him do more consistently,” Donovan said. “I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed. … But when someone shows signs of being able to do something, you feel like you want to try to get him to do it more consistently. He’s just got to take ownership of those minutes and just try to make them as valuable as possible.”

More often than not, Donovan and his staff find themselves mulling over the same questions: What do we need to do to motivate Williams to play this way more consistently? What are we missing? What does he need?

Those questions have not changed since his rookie season. They’ve grown more flustered, more confounding. Donovan doesn’t fully understand why Williams doesn’t pursue offensive rebounds at a higher rate. He can’t wrap his head around the forward’s lack of finishing ability as a dunker. He doesn’t know why this player — big, strong, smart, dedicated — can’t get this thing to click after years of trying.

Internally, the Bulls coaching staff has reached a point of bafflement with the forward. To those who work with Williams, none of this makes sense. As a one-and-done who mostly came off the bench at Florida State, it’s not as if the forward was never a surefire guarantee as a top-5 pick. Still, Williams always had the makings to meet a baseline of physicality and finishing that he’s simply never reached in Chicago.

Stardom is more nuanced than height and weight and wingspan, but Williams clearly has the physical gifts and general profile of a solid NBA player. His teammates often marvel at his strength both in the weight room and in team drills. He has a yawning reach, deft hands and light feet. So why has that never translated into consistency — of any kind — on the court?

This is the worst season of Williams’ career. He is averaging the fewest points (6.8) and rebounds (2.8) of his six years in the league. He logs less than one offensive board per game. His 2-point shooting percentage has dropped below 40%. His assist-to-turnover ratio is nearly 1-to-1.

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As a result, Williams’ career trajectory has stalled out to a standstill. There are still three years left on the forward’s five-year, $90 million deal. The Bulls did not seriously pursue trade options for Williams at the deadline due to a lack of interest on the market, per a source. Perhaps that will change once he nears the end of his contract. But in the meantime, Williams is treading water — and retreading the same talking points that have defined the last three years of his development.

“I kind of look at it as — whenever I do get out there, what can I learn from it?” Williams said. “To be completely honest, we’re not competing for a championship this year. So when I’m out there, I’m trying to learn different things. I’m trying to work on things in a game. It might look a little bit crazy, but that’s kind of what the development part of it is for me.”

Williams still talks like a young player at the start of his career. When he thinks about this season in the big picture, the forward points to foundational aspects of his game that he hopes to improve — playing at a higher pace, filling in the gaps in an undersized frontcourt.

“I hope that in Year 10, Year 12, Year 15, these lessons will start to come back around again,” Williams said. “I’ll say, ‘OK, I learned that early on when I was in Chicago.’”

There’s some sense to this outlook. After all, Williams is only 24 years old. Life is long.

But NBA careers are not. And as he fails to fight for minutes even on a floundering Bulls roster, Williams is only adding to the stagnation of his career — and the team as a whole.

CLEVELAND – Considering the torment of the five-game losing streak the Miami Heat carried into the night – from the buzzer-beating loss in Houston, the Luka Doncic 60 for the Lakers to the fourth-quarter blitz by the Hornets – there likely was going to be no easy way out for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

So what had stood as a 21-point first-half lead Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers was gone in the second half.

Still, this time the Heat found a way, pushing back in the fourth quarter to a 120-103 victory at Rocket Area.

So one step forward in the win column and two in the standings, the victory moving the Heat to No. 8 in the Eastern Conference amid the scramble in the play-in/playoff race.

With Spoelstra shaking up his starting lineup, the Heat found salvation through 19 points from Norman Powell and 18 from Tyler Herro , as well as 17 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Kel’el Ware.

In all, eight players scored in double figures for the Heat.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 28-19 after the first period and 63-46 at halftime, after moving to their 21-point lead in the second period.

The Heat season-long third-period issues then fully resurfaced, with the Cavaliers, playing on the second night of the back-to-back set against a Heat team that was idle Tuesday, tying it 83-83 going into the fourth.

The Cavaliers then moved to a two-point lead early in the final period before the Heat pushed their way back to a nine-point advantage midway through the fourth.

The Heat nursed the lead from there, as Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell fouled out with 3:39 left in the game, after scoring 28.

2. Side by side: Playing apart for most of the season due to injury absences, and then more recently by Spoelstra’s choosing, Powell and Herro were reunited in the starting lineup, with positive early results.

Powell was up to 13 points at halftime, with Herro with 11 at that stage, each with three first-half 3-pointers.

But then the chemistry was lost, each with just two points in the third period, the Heat’s big men taking over late to put it away.

Powell closed 7 of 12 from the field, Herro 6 of 11.

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3. Quality Ware: Limited in his minutes while offering limited contributions in recent games, Ware had a solid eight-minute initial stint, with six points and seven rebounds, the Heat outscoring the Cavaliers by 15 in those minutes.

Ware was part of an uptempo second unit that included Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, with Herro cycled back into that unit.

Ware then did not return in the second half until 1.7 seconds remained in the third period, but made his presence felt in the fourth.

4. Uneven night: Among the reasons Ware’s second-half minutes were limited was a 12-point third period by Adebayo after a two-point first half.

Against the quality defense of Evan Mobley Jr., Adebayo took his game to the perimeter, through three quarters 1 of 8 on 3-pointers while 4 of 9 otherwise from the field.

Adebayo also added seven assists to his stat line.

5. And another one: The teams meet again on the Cavaliers’ court on Friday night to close out the four-game season series that also included consecutive matchups earlier this season at Kaseya Center, where the teams split.

This is the fifth of the six times this season the Heat face the same opponent in consecutive games (including one run of three in a row against the Chicago Bulls).

The Heat’s final such set is April 7 and April 9 in Toronto.

CLEVELAND – Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 120-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers:

– Desperate measure for a desperate time?

– Perhaps not.

– But the five-game losing streak the Heat carried into the night seemingly called for change.

– So Heat coach Erik Spoelstra changed.

– Norman Powell back as a starter.

– Where most All-Stars prefer to be.

– And Pelle Larsson to the bench.

– Through no fault of his own.

– It was the first time Larsson did not start when available since Jan. 13.

– The starting lineup was rounded out by Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell.

– With the Heat 3-3 entering the night with that lineup.

– So this now the approach going forward?

– Spoelstra, of course, not one to tip his hand.

– Spoelstra, in fact, was asked pregame about whether he is closer to formulating a stable rotation for the postseason.

– “We’re forging ahead,” he said. “I mean, I’m not planning my playoff rotations right now. No, we have work to do. Obviously, we’re trying to move up and that’s keeping us all occupied. But we feel encouraged that we’re finally healthy and it’s coming at a good time. We need it.”

– That left unsaid whether there even will be a set rotation or more matching up with the opposition.

– “Number one. I’m not telling you. All right?” Spoelstra said with a grin. “But we’ll have our rotation out there. We feel very good about having all of our guys available, and that’s a big strength of our roster, is our depth and our versatility throughout the rotation. What we need is consistency of play.”

– The Cavaliers, without Dean Wade, Jarrett Allen and Max Strus, among others, opened with a lineup of Evan Mobley Jr., Keon Ellis, Sam Merrill, James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.

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– It was Harden’s 1,000th career regular-season start, one of nine active players at that figure.

– With Allen out, it made it easier for the Heat to start smaller.

– Larsson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. entered together first off the Heat bench.

– Kel’el Ware followed.

– With Kaspras Jakucionis making it nine deep.

– Again leaving previous rotation components Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio out of the mix.

– With again not a sniff of rotation time for Nikola Jovic.

– Spoelstra’s catchphrase going in again was “competitive will.”

– Noting, “Defensively, it hasn’t been to our standards. We’ve played some good teams. They’ve raised their level, and we weren’t able to do that.”

– With faith, he said, enduring.

– “We believe in our defense,” he continued, “We think that fuels so much more, even for us offensively. If we get some more stops, it’ll all fall in line.”

– Spoelstra believes the messaging is resonating, even if the results are not always there.

– “The thing about our group is they’re echoing the message to each other, even starting before I even have to meet with the team,” he said. “We’ve fought extremely hard to have a top-five defense. We’ve grinded through games and take a lot of pride on that side of the floor. But it’s an explosive offensive league. You let up on your mentality at all, the offensive talent that you face can get to you.”

– Spoelstra was asked at the morning shootaround of Myron Gardner as an energizer.

– “Energy, effort is a talent in this league,” Spoelstra said. “Because not everybody does it, certainly not to the extent that he does. And what he can provide sometimes is a bolt of inspiration, Through that relentless energy.”

– Spoelstra added, “And he’s getting better with the details, too. Defensively, so he’s not fouling as much with his aggressiveness. And offensively, he’s really improved. He’s very good as an open shooter. And he can play within our principles on drives. And you feel pretty confident he’ll make the right play.”

Mar. 25—Carol Perroz was a softball standout among the three sports she played at Freeport, and she continued in softball in college at Slippery Rock.

Though she was dedicated to her school teams in the spring, her diamond exploits didn't end when her scholastic seasons came to a close.

Many of her summer days, starting in the late 1970s and into the early '80s, were full of softball for amateur club teams locally and throughout the region.

With more than 45 years of competition under her belt, Perroz, now 63, doesn't expect to slow down any time soon.

Her love of the game and her passion drives her desire to still play.

"It is just a part of me. I enjoy it so much," said Perroz, who grew up the youngest of seven siblings.

"It's been a part of our family for as long as I can remember. My brother, Dick, and my brother, Bill, still play in their senior league. I also play in a guys league Mondays and Fridays in the summer at Kunkle Park (in Washington Township). That also keeps me competitive and keeps me going."

Her longstanding, dedicated, and accomplished career as a shortstop and her success at the plate has earned her many accolades, and USA Softball of Pennsylvania recently celebrated her with induction into its hall of fame for an "outstanding ability as demonstrated in softball competition, sportsmanship, integrity, character and contribution to the sport of softball."

"Growing up, you never expect something like this," Perroz said of the hall-of-fame honor.

"I just played the sport because I loved it. To get that call and to have people recognize you for what you've done, it was just a wonderful feeling."

Perroz's Amateur Softball Association experience continued to take off while playing locally for Wiegands Brothers from 1982 to 1984. She helped Wiegands win multiple state titles.

"I joined the Wiegands team because of a girl I played with in college," Perroz said. "We were a team all from around here. It was a fun time meeting up with college friends in the summer and playing with them."

Perroz continued to rise up the amateur ranks to the Major level and played for the Pittsburgh Debs after graduating from Slippery Rock in 1985.

"Major was the top level you could play," Perroz said. "The Debs' storied history went back a long way, and I came along at the end of it. They were 'the team' in Pittsburgh back in their heyday. Those were the ladies you looked up to and wanted to be like. It was what you knew. When I played for Wiegands, we would play Debs. From my standpoint, they carried themselves differently."

When the Debs closed operations in 1988, Perroz joined the Conneaut Lake Lakerettes and enjoyed more than a decade and a half of success which included Class A national titles in 1998 and 1999 and championships in the 35-and-over league from 1999 to 2004 and also in 2006.

Perroz twice was named nationals Most Valuable Player, first in 1999 and again in 2004.

"Back then, the seasons were from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and some seasons, we would play a total of 100 games, just on weekends, because of all the local and regional tournaments we went to," she said.

"There were times where we would get home at 12:30 or 1 in the morning after a long tournament and have to get up and go to work the next day. The next weekend, we would do it all over again."

Perroz is a member of the ASA All-Time team, received numerous ASA All-American honors and was named to the ASA All-Decade team for the 1990s. She was part of a 2010 Class C national championship team.

Perroz now plays for Homegrown Legends, a senior tournament team based in Arkansas.

"We have players from Ohio, Michigan, Texas, all over," she said. "We have our next tournament in two weeks in Alabama. Our tournaments are all over the country as opposed to local travel. We have to do what we can to get there."

The USA Softball of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame enshrinement comes 13 years after her softball accomplishments were honored with induction into the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

At that time, Perroz was in her ninth season as Valley's coach while closing in on 30 years of coaching area athletes in multiple sports, including basketball and volleyball. She led the Vikings to several section titles and WPIAL playoff appearances. Valley captured WPIAL titles in 2007 and 2010 with the crown jewel being a PIAA state title in 2011.

She stepped away from coaching in 2023.

"I really appreciated my time as a coach and working with all the kids, but I try to stay away from the fields because I know I would be right back there because it's just something that is in me," Perroz said.

"I am definitely enjoying just playing the game right now. It is a lot less stressful and demanding."

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.