Although the Miami Heat made the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed last year (where they lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games), they’re hoping to not return to the playoffs via the play-in this season.
At 41-33, the seventh-seeded Heat are currently just a game behind the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers. In fact, they’re only 3.5 games behind the third-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (45-30). Miami has won two contests in a row, and seems to be benefitting mightily from the return of multiple key role players.
The Heat will face three fellow Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls across their final six games of the regular season: the fourth-seeded New York Knicks on Tuesday, the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, and the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Heat do boast head-to-head tiebreakers over the Pacers and the 76ers, should they post identical season records with one or both teams.
Miami will also compete against two feisty fringe play-in contenders: the East’s No. 10-seeded Atlanta Hawks and the West’s No. 11-seeded Houston Rockets. In a rematch of the 2006 and 2011 NBA Finals, the rising Dallas Mavericks will play Miami for the Heat’s season finale on April 10, the second game in a back-to-back set.
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Heat swingman Duncan Robinson and reserve stretch five Kevin Love have recently returned from long-term injuries, which has helped spread out Miami’s offense. Per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, longtime Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has indicated that he’s tinkering with his lineup and rotation decisions as the postseason nears.
“Here’s what the rotation is: whatever it takes,” Spoelstra said. “That’s where we are. We made this bed, where we are right now. Because of all the moving parts, everybody right now, it’s easy. You just be ready for your minutes, contribute in a positive way and help impact winning. That’s all it’s about right now. Everybody has signed up for that, everybody is bought into that.”
Whatever their rotations, the team should fully trust Spoelstra by now. The second-longest tenured head coach in the NBA behind only the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich (he’s been with the team since 1997, but has served as its head coach since 2008-09), Spoelstra was inked to an eight-year contract extension worth an estimated $120 million, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Spoesltra has led the Heat to six NBA Finals appearances since the 2010-11 season, including two wins in 2012 and 2013. So far, he boasts a career 745-524 regular season record and a 109-75 playoff record.
This year’s Heat squad is led by All-Star center Bam Adebayo and All-NBA swingman Jimmy Butler, who have helped propel the team to Eastern Conference Finals berths in three of the last four seasons, plus two Finals appearances across that same span.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.