Miami Heat: 2 biggest questions about the NBA’s 22-team proposal
When the Miami Heat return, who will they face over the last eight games that determine their seeding for the upcoming playoffs?
The biggest news from all of this for the Miami Heat is their remaining schedule. With only 22 teams headed to Orlando the other eight will be ending their season’s prematurely.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports tweeted Wednesday that the plan moving forward was for teams to play out the next eight games as scheduled prior to the hiatus.
But the Miami Heat have teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks on their docket who won’t be making the trip.
The plan is for teams to continue their schedule as planned, with the next 8 games. If team is scheduled to play Hawks/Bulls/Pistons, it moves onto the next game on schedule, league sources tell Yahoo Sports
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) June 3, 2020
Any game against a team not within the Orlando bubble will instead be skipped over. Miami’s next eight games will be the next eight scheduled against one-of-22 teams participating.
Because the Heat have only eight games remaining against teams within the bubble, it’s likely they’ll face a slew of competitive matchups ahead of the eventual postseason. Of their eight upcoming opponents Miami will face seven teams currently seeded fifth or higher.
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The one positive to this potential eight game span for the Heat is that they’d be matched up with the Boston Celtics twice before playoffs. This would give them an opportunity to surpass the Eastern Conference third seed and secure a postseason match up with the sixth seed.
No matter the matchups or outcomes, this eight game stretch ensures that the Heat cannot slide any lower than the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. Still, Pat Riley and company will no doubt be waiting eagerly to hear how the remaining regular schedule is finalized.
These final eight games could be the difference between a first-round exit or shot at the title.