Mavs look to keep up their winning streak against Miami

The Mavericks travel to Miami for the team's first game of the season against the Heat. Dallas has the longest active winning streak in the league (tied with the Clippers at four games) and will look to take advantage of Miami's recent struggles to keep it going.

What did the Heat do in the offseason?

Over the summer, the Heat dusted themselves off after missing the playoffs in their first post-LeBron season, re-signing Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade and adding Gerald Green and Amar'e Stoudemire. With Bosh and Wade both healthy, this year's team is a significant step up from last year's.

What has Miami done lately?

The Heat haven't really succeeded in building much momentum this season. The team has never won (or lost, to their credit) more than three games in a row. They lost their most recent games to the Nets and the Grizzlies, dropping to seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

But, both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have been having stellar seasons, and Hassan Whiteside continues to be a rebounding and blocking machine. Even with their recent struggles and subsequent drop in the standings, the team has a .581 record and is just a game and a half out of second place.

Tonight they'll be missing Josh McRoberts, who has been sidelined with a right knee injury for the last three weeks, and possibly rookie Justice Winsow, who's listed as a game-time decision. For the Mavericks, Deron Williams is still listed as day-to-day.

What is the biggest match-up to watch?

Tonight's game will feature a number of potentially exciting basketball narratives... a multi-year Finals rematch, veteran players having resurgent seasons, Dwyane Wade doing the sort of Dwyane Wade stuff that pisses everyone off. But what I'm most looking forward to is the possibility of seeing Hassan Whiteside and JaVale McGee on the floor at the same time, which should be ridiculous in the best and worst possible ways.

How to watch

The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest (or Sun Sports, if you're local to Miami). You can watch elsewhere on NBA League Pass.