Will schedules and injuries keep the Miami Heat from staying in the coveted No. 7 spot?
A funny thing has happened since Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart went down. Pundits began to make a case for every Eastern Conference team to match up with the Boston Celtics. The Miami Heat included.
About a week ago, when strategizing for positions in the playoff race became a thing, the Heat did not look good enough to angle for anything. As a matter of fact, if it were not for the ineptitude of the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons, Miami would not have been holding on to the seventh or eighth seed.
Mainly because it was unknown what bodies or effort would be available on a night-to-night basis.
The only guarantee was that the media did not want to see the Heat versus the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round—except Caron Butler. This is despite a postseason showdown between Dwyane Wade and LeBron James being 15 years in the making, their regular season matchups being split at 15 a piece and Miami recently destroying James’ team by 18.
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Instead, the onus is being put on Miami to hold steady at No. 7 to face Boston. However, that would be difficult even if they tried.
Four out of six of the Heat’s remaining games are against teams who are a combined 83 games under .500. Two of those teams—the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks—are looking to tank. And two of the other teams ahead of Miami may drop do to injuries.
Life may be easier facing Boston, but No. 6 is in immediate reach.
The Washington Wizards are a half game up, however they have currently loss six of their last 10 games and have John Wall finally returning. The Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, have won nine of their last 10 games, but are faced with a chance of dropping with Joel Embiid out for the rest of the season.
With that said, the best thing the Heat could do for themselves is to lock in on winning and prove why shows like ESPN’s the Jump are picking them to be one of the Eastern Conference’s surprise teams.
Next: The Miami Heat are figuring things out, right on time
Going into the playoffs with a hot hand is more important than trying to manipulate the standings. Especially with the way Brad Stevens has the Celtics playing, no matter who steps on the court.