The Miami Heat are like explorers in uncharted territory. In this year’s NBA, it’s a whole new world as the season races towards completion and a play-in tournament between the teams seeded 7th-10th.
As of this moment, the Miami Heat sit squarely in the seventh spot in the East, with an array of possibilities ahead of them. Before sitting down and peeling through which scenarios serve the Heat the best, let’s refresh on how this works.
Following the conclusion of the season, the 7th and 8th seeds play for the 7th spot. The 9th and 10th seeds also play, with the loser getting eliminated.
Then, the loser of the 7th/8th matchup and the winner of the 9th/10th matchup play for the 8th seed. Seems simple enough, right?
That means that right now, the Heat would play the Charlette Hornets. A win would set them up against the Philidelphia 76ers.
A loss would put them in a loser-goes-home match against either the Washington Wizards or Indiana Pacers. The winner of that game would take on the Brooklyn Nets.
Now that you know what could happen, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.