The eighth-seeded Miami Heat successfully navigating their way through the playoffs and making the NBA Finals last season left many questioning how much seeding actually matters.
For experienced teams like the Heat, it might not matter as much, which is why the Golden State Warriors – who know a thing or two, or three, or four about winning championships – are looking to Miami’s 2023 run as a blueprint for what they aim to do this season.
“We take a lot of motivation from the Heat last year who had to play two play-in games and made it all the way to the Finals,” Thompson said after Golden State’s win over the Lakers on Tuesday. “I think we’re capable of a run like that. We obviously can’t look ahead, but whatever happens, we will be ready. We know that it can be done. There is no task too tall for us.”
Klay Thompson said the Golden State Warriors are trying to emulate what the Miami Heat did last year as a No. 8 seed that made the NBA Finals.
The Warriors are currently 10th in the West and will need to win the 9-10 matchup (potentially against the Lakers) and then beat the loser of the 7-8 play-in game in order to advance to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. At that point, they would play one of the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves or Oklahoma City Thunder, depending on who finishes the regular season with the West’s best record.
Even for a team with four future Hall of Famers, that’s a tall task. But if anyone is up for the challenge it’s Steph Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and Chris Paul.
The Warriors are peaking at the right time and have won nine of their last 10 games. Even in a competitive Western Conference, few would dare count them out. Not just because of what they’ve proven themselves, but also because of how the Heat provided a roadmap for what’s possible.