With another week in the books across the NBA, it’s time to check in on the major power rankings to get a pulse on their perception of the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat had a decent week all things considered. They went 2-1 with three home games and their only loss was against the mighty LA Clippers. They even welcomed prodigal son Dion Waiters back to the fold against the Clippers, and he played well in his return appearance.
In this weekly feature, we’ll take stock of the major power ranking outlets and their evaluation of the Heat. We’ll also take their total rankings and produce an average to give a clearer idea of how the group at large estimates them.
If there’s an outlet that we miss that you read regularly and would like to see it included, let us know on Twitter at @AllUCanHeat1.
Let’s get started.
NBA.com: 6th (previously 6th)
NBA.com has been fairly consistent in their ranking of the Heat. It’s been hard to fault their perspective since we began tracking this and they had the Heat second behind the Bucks. They’ve hit some troubled waters, and sixth seems about right.
An excerpt from John Schuhmann:
"The Heat remain rather ridiculous in overtime. The Heat and their opponents have each had 83 overtime possessions, and on those 83 possessions, the Heat have scored 102 points and their opponents have scored 52. In wins over the Kings and Wizards last week, eight different Heat players scored in OT."
ESPN.com: 7th (previously 4th)
ESPN’s power ranking of the Miami Heat has been nothing short of puzzling. Two weeks ago ESPN moved them from fifth to fourth in spite of a horrendous two-game stretch against the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. This past week the Heat went 2-1 and dropped three spots.
It’s a good thing these don’t actually mean anything.
An excerpt from Royce Young:
"After missing the Heat’s first 44 games, Dion Waiters made his debut on Friday against the Clippers and put up 14 points in 18 minutes. It has been an uncomfortable season for Waiters, with team suspensions, medical incidents, injuries and other issues, but he is still a talented player who can help a good team. For a squad potentially shopping for more depth at the deadline, Waiters might be a solution."
CBS Sports: 8th (previously 9th)
CBS Sports combined their power rankings with a pre-trade deadline primer, breaking down the most likely player to get traded from each team. As for the ranking itself, the Heat stayed fairly level from week to week.
An excerpt from Colin Ward-Henninger:
"The Heat would love to trade the contracts of James Johnson and/or Dion Waiters, but there’s no reason to believe that’s going to happen any time soon. Instead they might look to deal Winslow, who’s under contract through 2022 on an affordable deal."
Hoops Habit: 6th (previously 8th)
Our most recent addition to our rankings compilation comes in the form of Hoops Habit, FanSided’s NBA site. They seem to be in lock-step with the other rankings about the quality of the Heat so far.
An excerpt from Phil Watson:
"The Miami Heat taking their just their second loss at American Airlines Arena this season on Friday felt almost inevitable after the way the Heat struggled to beat the woeful Kings and Wizards earlier in the week. If Miami isn’t unraveling, there are definite signs of fraying — the Heat are just 6-4 over their last 10 games following a 25-10 start."
Bleacher Report: 7th (previously 9th)
After underrating the Heat relative to the rest of the group a couple of weeks ago, Bleacher Report picked an interesting time to buy in on them. Bleacher Report might have been low on them overall, but they’ve been fair.
An excerpt from Grant Hughes:
"Up 19 points at halftime, Miami found itself trailing by three with 1:35 to go in regulation Wednesday against the Wizards. Usually, momentum only shifts at such an extreme once in a game, but the Heat went on to win anyway, running their overtime record to 8-0 with a 134-129 escape.As NBA analyst Couper Moorhead noted, they’re a remarkable 10-6 in games where they trailed by five or fewer points in the final minute."
Average rank: 6.8 (previously 7.2)
Make sure to check back next week for our power rankings breakdown.