Miami Heat Check Gaming: A 2018 playoff preview

Another Miami Heat Check Gaming check-in is here, this time centered around the 2018 playoffs.

I’m back.

Last time we spoke, I mentioned how Heat Check Gaming needed to win two out of the three remaining games to make the playoffs.

Not only did they not do that, but they also ended the season on a two-game losing streak. I gave them a pass for those losses, but that doesn’t stop the rest of the league (or me) from giving them the eyes emoji.

Here’s why I gave them a pass for back to back losses.

I know its a little abstract, but it’s the truth.

Remember Kobe Bryant’s final game? It was a historic performance. The kind that you would only find in a fairy tale. Kobe dropped 60 points on his way to his last clutch moment win of his career. I was elated to see the spectacle, but all I could think of was “What if the Utah Jazz hadn’t been informed minutes before tip-off that they were eliminated from the playoffs?”

Heat Check cruised to an 80-69 victory over Kings Guard Thursday, to snatch their first of two necessary wins to make the playoffs.

They went to bed saying “Great, our destiny is in our own hands. All we have to do is win one of the next two games tomorrow and we’re through to the playoffs. We don’t need any fancy math.”

So Heat Check’s pivotal matchup versus Raptors Uprising starts the day off and right upfront the league announces that no matter what was to happen that day, that Heat Check has clinched a playoff birth. You could literally hear the team cheering near the stage, since they found out at the same time we did.

Although it was exciting they way everyone found out, I do believe this is something the league needs to work on for next season. Teams should be aware of possible standings shenanigans prior to any broadcast.

Throughout the game, you could tell the wind was taken right out of their sails by the good news.

They suddenly had significantly less to play for, and it showed.

Raptors Uprising absolutely needed a win against Heat Check to secure a spot in the playoffs, and they scrapped and clawed their way to a 73-81 victory.

The Raptors boast they are the best 5-out defensive team in the league.

HOTSHOT and the boys were tearing it up before the final week of the season, but the Raptors insisted that their own ALL HAIL TREY (Trevion Hendrix) was the best one-on-one defender against the Shot-Creating Slasher archetype in the league and boy were they right.

Both teams were deadlocked at 16 at the end of the first quarter. Heat Check was playing timid and predictable, with HOTSHOT afraid to lose the ball or get blocked by TREY.

With the 5-out effectively shut down, Raptors Uprising went on a 28-15 run in the second quarter and blew the game open. Sure the Heat won the next two quarters by a combined total of five points, but that simply wasn’t enough to get them back in the game.

That loss made the following matchup against Grizz Gaming a non-factor. I still expected them to win since the Grizz were 5-8 entering their last game of the season, but they found a way to lose that one as well 72-67.

With the seeding for the first NBA 2K League playoffs set, Heat Check gaming managed to do just as their NBA counterparts did by getting the sixth seed.

Round one starts tonight against Pistons GC. The winner of tonight’s game will go on to the semi-finals later this weekend, where they will play their opponent in a best of three series to determine who goes to the finals next week.

Let’s take a look into Heat Check’s track record, shall we?

During the regular season, the Heat went 3-7 (43 percent) against playoff opponents, including a week one loss to Pistons GC. Sure the game build has changed, and the Heat have found a way to climb out of a slow start, but they have to remember that they can’t afford to see any trace from the old team.

There was an opportunity for the Heat to grab the second seed, but this is actually a blessing in disguise since their matchup would’ve ended up being Wizards Disctict gaming.

The Wiz have eliminated the Heat from 2 mid-season tournaments by a total of 19 points. Since both of those losses were in first rounds, we have no idea how the Heat actually look in tournament play.

The best bracket scenario for Heat Check would be to upset the Pistons, while hoping the Wizards lose to 76rs in the quarterfinals.

A Wizards loss would lead the Heat into a best of three game series, versus a team they’ve only played once all season. In these types of sports situations, the best team usually wins, but there is some hope that team leader HOTSHOT could go off and have one of those ‘in the zone’ weekends, where he’s unstoppable.

Realistically, no one would want to see a Heat-Blazers final in this format.

I absolutely have faith in Heat Check’s ability to steal a game in the series, but with the NBA 2K League title and $300,000 at stake, I just don’t see the complete upset coming to fruition. With the Reigning Defensive player of the year and league MVP OneWildWalnut (Dayne Downey) leading the charge, Blazer5 Gaming is a juggernaut primed and ready to explode on any opponent.

Good luck Heat Check Gaming. May the force be with you.