The Miami Heat were off Tuesday night but got help from teams above them in the standings to keep their hopes of hosting a play-in game alive.
As the Heat await Wednesday night’s crucial game in Chicago, the Bulls rested several key players in Tuesday night’s blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That leaves the Heat with identical 36-43 records heading into Wednesday night’s matchup. The winner will have pole position to host the 9-10 play-in game.
The Bulls, having beaten the Heat in the first two matchups this season, have clinched the playoff tie-breaker. So the Heat would need to finish at least one game ahead of the Bulls to surpass them in the standings. Winning Wednesday would be a critical step in doing so. Lose, and that becomes a lot tougher.
The Heat still have something to play for.
Here’s each team’s remaining schedule after Wednesday night:
Chicago: Home vs Washington on Friday, at Philadelphia on Sunday.
Miami: At New Orleans on Friday, home vs Washington on Sunday.
Both teams will be favored in their last two games.
After Tuesday night’s results, the Heat could get the ninth seed by winning out. That would mean hosting their first play-in game in a 9-10 matchup against either Chicago or the Atlanta Hawks.
Also on Tuesday, the Hawks (37-42) lost to the Orlando Magic, keeping the Heat’s chances of moving up to eighth mathematically alive.
The Heat would finish eighth if they win out and the Hawks lose one of their last three games. The Hawks travel to Brooklyn on Thursday, play in Philadelphia on Friday and host the Magic on Sunday.
If the Heat loses Wednesday, they could still pass Atlanta if they win out and the Hawks lose two of their final three. Miami is locked into the play-in tournament and can’t finish higher than eighth.
Here’s how the play-in tournament works
In next week’s play-in tournament, the seventh and eighth seeds and ninth and 10th seeds in each conference play for a chance to advance to the playoffs.
The winner of the 7-8 game earns the seventh seed, while the loser faces the winner of the 9-10 game for a chance to earn the eighth seed.