This Miami Heat advantage may be at peril for rest of this season and next
The Miami Heat thrive on their home court and off the energy of their fans. The coronavirus pandemic threatens that traditional Heat advantage.
The Miami Heat have typically been a different team at home in American Airlines Arena than they have been on the road. While many would like to believe the falsely spread narrative that Miami Heat fans are “bad fans”, they currently have the league’s sixth-longest ranked “sellout streaks”.
Dating back to April of 2010, the 450 consecutive sellouts, which includes their last game on March 11th against the Charlotte Hornets, is the second-longest such active streak in the league. The Miami Heat streak sits, actively, only behind the Dallas Mavericks streak of 819, dating back to December of 2001.
With that information in mind though, things may not be looking up for the Miami Heat when it comes to one of their foremost secret weapons. According to a piece by Shams Charania of The Athletic, “The NBPA’s leadership stated it is believed no fans will be permitted into games for the entire 2020-21 season.”
With the Miami Heat home-court advantage in mind, there may be no fans at all next season either. Will it hurt the heat that badly?
What does this mean specifically for the Miami Heat? Does it mean that their sellout streak will come to an end, or is it rolled over due to such extreme circumstances?
More importantly, will it impact their performance on the court? While they have been one of the best overall teams in the league this season, they have been that much better on their home floor.
With an overall record of 41-24 through 65 contests, good for fourth place in East and the eighth-best overall record in the league, they were a superior team in Miami. Out of those 65 games and 41 wins, 27 of them came at home. They are 27 of 32 at home with an 84 percent winning percentage, while being 14 of 33 on the road, for a winning percentage of 42 percent.
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The data speaks for itself. If there are no fans allowed to attend games for the entirety of next season, it could have a vast impact on the Miami Heat, or maybe not. We will just have to wait and hope that it doesn’t.