The Miami Heat are paces away from clinching the Eastern Conference. They have already begun preparing for the playoffs.
Players like Kyle Lowry have been ramping up their effort to reach playoff mode. They are eager to make their success in the regular season translate into the playoffs.
The Brooklyn Nets were having a good season as well before Kevin Durant suffered an injury. The Nets struggled during this period and lost 11 straight at one point during that stretch.
They have dealt with Kyrie Irving being in and out of the lineup.
They have also dealt with a midseason trade that shipped away James Harden. Now, they are sitting in eighth place in the East and will officially have a spot in the play-in tournament.
It was recently reported that the newly acquired Nets star, Ben Simmons, will miss the remainder of the regular season and the play-in tournament. Simmons has not played at all this season, but his absence means that Brooklyn will be competing in the play-in tournament without their best defender.
Miami Heat: Better to Face Brooklyn Nets Sooner Or Later In NBA Playoffs?
While it’s fun to talk about how the Brooklyn Nets and how they are sputtering, everyone’s favorite to come out of the East at the top of the year, the Miami Heat are always of the utmost importance here.
Here is how things might shake out for them.
There are two scenarios in which the Miami Heat could face the Nets in the first round. Those scenarios would be the following:
- The Nets remain the eighth seed or rise to the seventh spot. The Nets lose their first game in the play-in tournament but win their second game.
- The Nets drop to the ninth or tenth position. The Nets win both of their play-in games.
The Nets making the playoffs is not a guarantee. However, they appear to be the most dangerous team that would be participating in the play-in tournament.
A team featuring Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving is a scary sight. The Nets will likely find a spot in the playoffs, even without Ben Simmons, because of the high offensive potency of those two guys.
That being said, would it be better for the Miami Heat to face the Nets in the first round, rather than potentially face them later? Let’s review why this might be the case.
Miami Heat: It Doesn’t Matter, But Could Look Different Later For Them
If the Brooklyn Nets make the playoffs, it is very likely that they play their early playoff series without Simmons. Without their best defender, they have to rely more on their offense to get the job done.
While it is true that the Nets have one of the top offenses in the league, it is also true that the Heat are one of the few teams to rank top ten in both offensive and defensive ratings. That means that Miami can limit Brooklyn’s offense while scoring effectively on the other side.
The Nets might not be able to contain the Heat without an All-Star level defender of their own. Contrarily, it could be argued that the Nets would be better this season without Simmons.
That doesn’t mean that Simmons would make the team worse. It only means that since he hasn’t played all year and is currently nursing an injury, he would need to take some time to get back into the pace of the game.
On top of that, he needs to learn how to play with a whole new roster of teammates. That type of change in the middle of the playoffs is difficult to manage, even for a team stacked with All-Star talent.
We see this happen all the time when teams riddled with injuries attempt to make a playoff push. Most of the time, they are unsuccessful because they have not played as a cohesive system all year.
It is also worth noting that if the Miami Heat don’t play the Nets in an early round, someone else might knock them off. So, the Heat could avoid playing the Nets altogether.
If they end up playing Brooklyn, at all, this postseason, the Heat still have a very good chance to beat the Nets. Despite what the NBA championship odds may say, the Heat would probably win the series.
But since the Nets are such a talented team, avoiding them would make life a little easier for the Heat. It would be beneficial for the Miami Heat to avoid the Nets at all costs.
However, if they end up playing each other, Miami’s best chance at victory comes early into the postseason. That way, the Nets are not at full strength.
No matter what happens, the Heat will have some competitive series ahead of them this postseason. Let’s hope they come out on top!