Miami Heat: Three keys to making the NBA playoffs

With just 15 games left in the regular season, the Miami Heat have no margin for error if they want to make the playoffs. Here’s how they can do it.

The Miami Heat have made it clear that they want to make the playoffs this season, and they got hot at just the right time to do it. The Heat have climbed back into playoff contention having won six of their last eight games and hold the eight seed in the Eastern Conference, but closing the deal and making the postseason won’t be easy.

The Heat are the current placeholder in the final playoff spot with the Orlando Magic 1.5 games behind and the Charlotte Hornets 2.5 games back, but they face a grueling schedule in comparison to their rivals and they own none of the relevant tie-breakers if they finish with the same record as either the Hornets or Magic.

Depending on which projection you look at, the Heat are somewhere between 34 percent (per FiveThirtyEight) and 47.4 percent (per ESPN’s BPI) to make the playoffs even with this lead of more than a game on both the Hornets and Magic.

So with only 15 games left in the regular season we’ll take a look at why the road ahead is so steep, and how the Heat can capitalize on the advantages they do have over their closest competitors in this battle.

With no further ado, let’s take a look at three keys for the Miami Heat to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.