Before Sunday’s 115-117 loss to the Pacers, the Heat had won 4 out of their last 5 and briefly held the 6th seed during that time. It’s been an inconsistent season in Miami with injuries plaguing the roster all season long, but they are starting to get healthy at just the right time and could make a push for a playoff spot in their final 4 games. At the time of writing, Miami are now in 8th and 1.5 games behind Indiana in 6th. With less than a week left in the regular season, just 3 games are separating Orlando in 3rd to Miami in 8th.
Throughout this season, key Heat players have missed significant time. Out of the 78 games played, the following key players have missed time: Tyler Herro - 40 games, Nikola Jovic - 36, Josh Richardson (out for the season) - 35, Kevin Love - 27, Jimmy Butler - 22, Caleb Martin - 18, Bam Adebayo - 11, Duncan Robinson - 10 and Jamie Jaquez Jr - 7. The majority of the Heat’s rotation have missed 10 games or more and missing the likes of Herro and Butler for long periods of the season has limited Miami’s ability to be consistent and move up the seedings.
Every team is faced with injuries, but Miami’s injury list has been deep all season and the fact they are still in contention for a straight-up playoff spot is a credit to the organisation. Year after year they can draft and sign players that embody the ‘Heat Culture’ and step up when they are needed. The likes of Jaquez Jr and Haywood Highsmith fit right into this category, with both playing more minutes than they would have expected this season, all while outperforming expectations. If Miami can get themselves fully healthy, their seeding doesn’t come into play as regardless of who they may face in the play-in, it’s hard to picture a scenario where the Heat do not secure a playoff spot. They may still be able to sneak into the 6th seed or higher but they will have to rely on Indiana, Cleveland and Philadelphia to drop games. Play-in or playoffs won’t make much difference to this team as facing adversity is engraved in Miami’s DNA.
There is a real possibility we could witness Miami make a deep playoff run again with the current state of the other contenders in the East. Milwaukee are going cold at the wrong time, losing four in a row and going 3-7 over their last ten games. Doc Rivers has a lot of work to do to raise chemistry and make a deep run. New York has struggled with key injuries in the second half of the season and will be without their second-leading scorer Julius Randle for the entirety of the playoffs after dislocating his right shoulder and requiring season-ending surgery. The Knicks have a deep roster but will certainly miss Randle's Contribution of 24 PPG, 9.2 RPG and 5.0 APG. Cleveland are struggling as well, losers of 3 in-a-row and 3-7 over their last ten games. Donovan Mitchell and Even Mobley have missed time recently and it has clearly affected the Cavalier's overall chemistry. Much like the Bucks, it’s a question of if they can get it right in time for the first-round matchups as both teams could be susceptible to surprise exits. Orlando and Indiana are the hottest teams other than Boston but are inexperienced when it comes to playoff basketball and we can expect Miami to make the most of this if they were to be matched up. Philadelphia will be a dangerous lower seed with Joel Embiid coming back to full fitness, but we have seen the former MVP struggle in the postseason before and Miami will look to utilise this with Adebayo patrolling the paint. Other than Boston, all other East playoff teams have asterisks around them as they enter the postseason and if Miami can avoid the 8 seed and ultimately Boston, they can make a serious run at the Eastern Conference Finals.
It’s safe to say that no Eastern Conference team wants to face Miami in the playoffs. Over the past two postseasons, they have made it to the ECFs as the 1st seed and made it to the finals as the 8th seed. It doesn’t matter what seed they land, Miami will be extremely difficult to beat in a seven-game series, especially with a healthy roster. Butler, Adebayo and Herro will lead the way and they will need to rely on the rest of the rotation to pick up the slack, which with Miami, seems to happen frequently. Last season saw the rise of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Caleb Martin who all contributed greatly to the Heat’s run to the finals. If any of Martin, Jaquez Jr, Robinson, Love, Jovic, Rozier and Highsmith can rise to the occasion like those before them, Miami has a real chance of being in the ECF’s three years in a row. Boston will more than likely be waiting for them if they do, a rematch all NBA fans would welcome.
Comentarios