If nothing else, these final weeks of the season are going to be fun to cover. At ninth in the standings before Wednesday night's game, and trailing the Hornets by a half game in the standings, the Heat is locked in a playoff race that seems fated for a grand finale on the final day of the season.

Between now and then (April 15, tax day indeed), the Heat will be watching the standings on a nightly basis just as intently as Heat fans. Things could change in a hurry in a race for the final playoff spot, but right now it's a battle between the Heat and Hornets. The Heat (28-35) has 19 games remaining and plays the Brooklyn Nets tonight in Miami. The Hornets (28-34) have 20 games remaining and play the Sacramento Kings tonight in Charlotte.

Here's the playoff race between the Heat and Hornets in a little more detail:

TONIGHT: NETS (25-37) AT HEAT (28-35)

Line: Heat by 3; opened at 4 1/2

Heat status: Dwyane Wade questionable (various). Goran Dragic probable (back). Hassan Whiteside out (suspension). Chris Bosh out. Josh McRoberts out.

Nets status: Alan Anderson (back) Markel Brown (ankle) doubtful. Sergey Karasev out. Mirza Teletovic out.

So, obviously an important and winnable game for the Heat tonight, especially after losing to the Celtics on Monday. The Nets have lost four consecutive games.

HEAT NEXT FIVE GAMES

—Home tonight against the Nets.

—At Toronto on Friday.

—Home on Monday against the Cavs.

—Home on Wednesday against the Trail Blazers.

—Home at Friday against the Nuggets.

Charlotte has a winnable game tonight as well, but while the Heat is losing players daily to injuries and suspensions, the Hornets are getting guard Kemba Walker back from a knee sprain that sidelined him for 20 games. Walker is projected to come off the bench tonight behind Mo Williams, who was recently named Eastern Conference player of the week.



TONIGHT: KINGS AT HORNETS

Line: Charlotte by 8 1/2; opened at 6 1/2.

Charlotte status: Walker (knee) probable. Cody Zeller (shoulder) doubtful.

Kings status: DeMarcus Cousins (ankle) probable. Darren Collison (core muscle) out. Eric Moreland (shoulder) out.

As momentum goes, the Hornets certainly have the edge on the Heat. Charlotte is 5-1 since the beginning of March and the team is gelling. The starters have all scored in double figures in five of the last seven games. Meanwhile, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn't really sure who he's starting tonight. The Heat has used 26 different starting lineups this season and tonight could be 27.

CHARLOTTE NEXT FIVE GAMES

—Home tonight against the Kings.

—Home on Friday against the Bulls.

—At Jazz on Monday.

—At Clippers on Tuesday.

—At Kings on Friday.

Another quick note: The combined winning percentage of the Heat's final 19 opponents is .504. The combined winning percentage of the Hornets' final 20 opponents is .494. That seems to favor the Hornets, but Charlotte hits the road next week for a difficult five-game road trip out West. The Hornets play 11 of their final 20 games on the road. Meanwhile, the Heat plays 10 of its final 19 games at home. Of course, the Heat has struggled at home this season (13-18).

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Some more notes about the Heat's final 20 games:

—Of the remaining games, 12 of the Heat's remaining opponents would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

—The Heat's home schedule isn't easy, and that's a bad trend considering the Heat 13-18 at home. The Heat's final nine home games:

Wednesday vs. Brooklyn

March 16 vs. Cleveland

March 18 vs. Portland

March 20 vs. Denver

March 29 vs. Detroit

March 31 vs. San Antonio

April 7 vs. Charlotte

April 9 vs. Chicago

April 11 vs. Toronto

April 13 vs. Orlando

—The most significant game, of course, could be that Tuesday night game on April 7 against the Hornets. Charlotte currently holds the playoffs tie-breaker with a head-to-head record against the Heat of 2-1. If the Heat wins that game, then the next tie-breaker would be the better winning percentage against teams in the Southeast Division. The Hornets hold that tie-breaker as well. Charlotte is 7-5 against Southeast Division opponents and the Heat is 4-9.