Miami Heat's Goran Dragic Nearing 3,000 Career Assists
Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic enters Wednesday's matchup with the Houston Rockets needing seven assists to reach 3,000 for his career, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Dragic has posted seven or more assists in 21 different games this season, giving him a reasonable shot at earning the milestone in the team's last contest before the All-Star break. He last totaled seven assists Feb. 8 against the Milwaukee Bucks but has totaled eight assists over the last three games.
The 30-year-old floor general spent the majority of his career playing for a Phoenix Suns club that likes to play up-tempo, but his stats have improved in his second full season with the Heat. Over 48 games this season, Dragic is averaging 6.3 assists (second-highest career average), 20.3 points (tied for highest) and 3.9 rebounds (career high).
A second-round draft pick in 2008, Dragic came off the bench in each of his first three seasons, starting a combined eight games. He started 28 games with the Rockets in 2011-12, but it wasn't until he returned to Phoenix in 2012-13 that he took over a permanent spot in the starting five. He started every game he played that season and hasn't been out of the starting lineup—when healthy—since then.
The Heat have benefited from his play recently, going on a 13-game winning streak before they dropped the last two to the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic. Still, the club now sits two games back of the Detroit Pistons for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Miami has one game remaining in the first half Wednesday against the Rockets. The club has realistic playoff aspirations heading into the All-Star break after a horrendous start to the season.
