Along with several teams in the NBA, the Miami Heat (37-31) are looking to avoid the league’s newly installed Play-In Tournament at all costs. No team wants to have their season determined by just one or two games and the new end-of-season addition will introduce that reality.
For those who are unaware of the rules and objectivities of the play-in, here’s some information of the tournament process below:
- Four teams from each NBA conference will participate in a play-in tournament to determine the final two seeds of their respective conferences. Those four teams will be the teams ranked between the seventh and tenth seeds.
- The seventh and eighth seeds will play a single game to determine the seventh seed. The eliminated team of that round will face the winner between the ninth and tenth seeds to determine the eighth and final seed.
The Eastern Conference race over the season’s final stretch is a multi-team battle royal featuring the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and the Washington Wizards to determine those final seeds.
Atlanta Hawks
Earlier in April, the Hawks convincingly defeated Miami, 113-108, with the notable absences of 22 year-old NBA All-Star, Trae Young, and double-double machine, Clint Capela. With a slew of savvy role players and veteran experience, Atlanta isn’t a desirable team to face in an early round, as they also just obliterated the top-seeded Phoenix Suns, 135-103, on Wednesday night.
To conclude, Atlanta ranks as one of the elite offensive rebounding teams, while Miami falls second-to-last in that department. It’s also worth noting that currently, Atlanta holds the third-lowest Opponent Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (34 percent) in the NBA.