Losers of four in a row, it's becoming quite apparent that the Milwaukee Bucks are not going to catch the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference standings. That means the Heat's draft math - and genuine chances of finishing outside the Play-In Tournament - is just getting worse by the day.
The Heat are currently 6.5 games ahead of the 11th-seeded Bucks in the East standings. At this point, it's all but a foregone conclusion that the Heat are going to be a Play-In Tournament team.
That doesn't mean the Heat can't still find their way to the lottery, which can happen if they falter in the Play-In Tournament, but the odds of that continue to dwindle.
The Heat will likely miss the lottery - again
Of course, this is not necessarily something that the front office is losing sleep over, especially considering that they value winning over everything. However, for a portion of the fan base that would've loved to see the Heat land in the lottery, this is not a great development.
With just 20 games left in the season, fans might need to embrace the team's obvious reality. They're going to be a postseason team, for better or worse. At this point, they might as well get on board with their push for the sixth seed.
Because, looking at the standings, it's not that outlandish of a scenario.
The Heat's biggest threat to the sixth seed
Entering the crucial final push for the postseason, Miami finds itself just one game back of the sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. Sure, they'd have to leapfrog the Orlando Magic in the process, but escaping the Play-In Tournament is within reach for the Heat.
As the Sixers and Magic continue to struggle with consistency of late, I'd argue that the team's biggest concern should be from a team that is slowly closing in on them - the Charlotte Hornets.
After a signature win in Boston Wednesday night, it's safe to say that the Hornets are the hottest team in the East.
Charlotte has won six games in a row and 16 of their last 19 games. If there's one team that appears to be getting hot at the right time, it's Charlotte.
The Hornets are also just 1.5 games back of the Heat in the standings, with two games left against the Heat on their schedule.
The final push for the Heat is here
If the Heat are going to secure the sixth seed, they're going to have to get serious pretty quickly. And having won six of their last nine games, maybe they are.
But they're going to have to prove it against the good teams, too. Miami has struggled all season long against teams over .500, and has a few big matchups on the horizon.
Nevertheless, this is the path forward that Miami must embrace. Thanks to the Bucks' collapse of late, their lottery dreams are pretty much dead.
For better or worse, it's sixth seed or bust for Miami now.