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Short takes

• Miami has followed a 1-10 stretch by winning nine in a row entering Saturday's home game against Philadelphia … and was still stuck 10 games below .500.

The Heat is headed to Target Center on Monday with an improved defense and with Dion Waiters scoring like he was expected to in Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

"It's not about how many wins we can get in a row," coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters Friday. "I know it's creating a lot of interest right now. It's the product of a lot of work all season, and that work does not guarantee anything. We're putting in this kind of work and making a lot of improvement and progress, and we went 1-9."

• Houston retired former star Yao Ming's No. 11 jersey Friday and during the ceremony, he told a story about how the team and teammates made him feel at home his rookie season by giving him a traditional Chinese New Year gift: a red envelope with money in it.

It contained two measly $1 bills, but it had a lasting effect because he has carried one of them in his pocket ever since.

"Because I know no matter where I go, as long as that bill's in my pocket," Yao told the crowd, "home is with me."

• Wolves young star Andrew Wiggins debuted a new pair of Adidas green shoes last week, a fashion statement for which now-injured teammate Zach LaVine takes credit.

"I told him to get a little flavor in his life," LaVine said of his fellow 21-year-old. "He's always wearing the generic blue-and-white or black-and-white Adidas. I feel like I'm the shoe guy, so I went over to his house and I found out he has more packages, unopened, than he even knows. He should have worn the green ones on Christmas. He has an all-white pair with an icy-blue bottom. Ohhh, swag!"