Miami Heat Fine-Tuning Offense And Defense Going Into Stretch Run

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and forward Tyler Herro (14) defend Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11)(Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports)
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and forward Tyler Herro (14) defend Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11)(Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports)
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Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, left, stands beside Team Durant coach Erik Spoelstra(David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)

The stretch run is here for the Miami Heat. It’s the time of year that is essentially the pre-season to the post-season.

Does that make sense? Well, to clarify, it’s the final stretch of games that runs into the playoffs, starting right after the All-Star Break.

While most view All-Star weekend as the halfway point of the season, it’s actually much closer to the three-quarter mark.

This is when teams are getting their lineups together and really jockeying for position.

Miami currently sits at the top of the East with the number one seed, a full two games up on Chicago after bludgeoning them on Monday. They, obviously, want to stay there, as the East is proving to be a circus.

Full of hard-hitting contention within the conference, home-court will be especially valuable this year. So, what do the Heat need to do to maintain pole position?

Let’s look into that scenario a bit. It’s really not as complex as it may seem on the surface.