Miami Heat Roundtable: Predicting Last 23, Final Record, & Seed – Will’s Take
The Miami Heat have 23 games left in the regular season and have the ninth-hardest schedule remaining according to Tankathon. They currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference behind the fifth-seeded Brooklyn Nets and the sixth-placed New York Knicks.
Will’s Take – (@crackseason)
Will they be able to jump the New York teams? In my prediction, I believe so.
Both New York teams are ahead of Miami in terms of the hardest schedules in the league. Miami is a well-seasoned team, so they should be able to take care of business, as the upper-state teams struggle.
By the end of the season, they can finish with the fifth seed. Their efforts will not translate into home-court advantage though.
I’m predicting that it won’t be a pretty run. With the 23 games remaining, I expect Miami to finish with a second-half record of 15-8.
They haven’t done it all season, but they should be able to beat the teams that are below .500 and looking to tank or punch their ticket into the playoffs. Experience matters and Miami should take advantage.
Most of their losses will come to the higher-seeded teams, such as the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Philadelphia Sixers. With what this team has shown, it’s hard to be optimistic, and I do think Miami will lose two of the three match-ups against Philly.
I have them losing the last two matchups with the Cavaliers as well as losing the last battle with Dallas.
There will be some big wins, such as two out of the three games against the Knicks, a revenge game against the Nets, a key home win against the Memphis Grizzlies, and a strong finish over the Atlanta Hawks.
The biggest thing for Miami is to avoid the play-in. Do not give yourself a chance to be eliminated early, which is the obvious thing but most importantly, you don’t want Jimmy Butler playing any more than he has to.
They’ve been a mediocre home team all season, so home-court advantage shouldn’t bother them too much. If there was ever a time to take care of business, it is definitely now.
Record Prediction Across Final 23 Games: 15-8
Predicted Final Record And Finish In Eastern Conference: 47-35 And 5th