The Miami Heat need continuity over rest, going into the playoffs
Will road woes force the Miami Heat into playing out the regular season?
Give the league about a week, and the first round of the NBA playoffs will be set and underway. Meaning no more talk of angling for postseason positions or questions of why the Miami Heat did not rest their way to seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
When Miami sat James Johnson, Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade versus the Atlanta Hawks, it looked like the team was content with letting the chips fall where they may. Then Friday night, they trotted out their regular roster and caused some confusion.
It could have been a play to stay in sixth place, but it felt like more than a show for the standings. The goal was not to get blown out or go through the motions. The purpose was to build the momentum that has been lacking.
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A 24-point loss defeated that purpose for a night. However, continuity has to still be the focus.
Being in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference bracket places Miami on the road to begin the postseason—no matter where they end up. Which is a destination where the Heat have been horrendous after November. And according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson it has gotten even worse:
"“The Heat will enter the playoffs having lost 12 of its last 14 games on the road. That’s two road wins since Jan. 29 at Dallas.Only the Memphis Grizzlies (1-17) and Phoenix Suns (1-13) have fewer wins on the road since Jan. 30 than the Heat does.”"
To take things further, the Heat are 18-23 on the road for the season. That breaks down to being only one of four playoff teams sporting an under .500 record anywhere outside of their own courts.
Count that as another reason why the Heat need to play out these last two games.
Not only do their subpar ventures scream failure, they line Miami up to enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak, if they do not put forth full efforts in their pair of outings.
Their best bet is to take advantage of their home success (25-14) and try to finish this week with wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors.
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This is the only way to ride the momentum they need, to kick the postseason off on a successful note.