It was a golden opportunity for the Heat. By facing Indiana on Sunday, the Floridians could, in the event of a victory, overtake them and enter the Top 6, which allows them to qualify directly for the playoffs. The ideal therefore.
But Jimmy Butler and his teammates missed this meeting, especially with a very difficult start, both in attack and defense. “They imposed their paw and we got ourselves into trouble,” notes Erik Spoelstra. “We started off badly,” confirms Jimmy Butler before Bam Adebayo believes that “It can’t happen like that.”
What if this failed start to the match was summed up by Terry Rozier, next to his sneakers but who wanted to play despite a stiff neck. “I shouldn’t have played”recognizes the playmaker. “We appreciate what he gave”defends the coach.
The Heat will certainly come back throughout the match, but without succeeding in overthrowing the Pacers in the final moments. Result: the defeat removes them from Indiana, now 1.5 games behind. And as Philadelphia is on five successes in a row, the Sixers slip between the two franchises. To put it simply: Miami is 8th, Philadelphia 7th and Indiana 6th.
“We want to play high-stakes matches, so when that’s the case, it also means matches with consequences”recalls Erik Spoelstra.
Why make it simple when you can make it complicated ?
Can the 2023 finalists still find the Top 6 and avoid the “play-in” in this last week of competition? It seems complicated. Even if Floridians win the final four games, Indiana will only need to win two of its final three games to stay ahead. Rick Carlisle and his players indeed have the “tiebreaker”so if they finish with the same record as Miami, they will be ahead.
The Heat still have to play Atlanta, Dallas and two games against Toronto, when the Pacers will also have the Raptors to face, as well as Cleveland and Atlanta. The Sixers have Detroit, Orlando and Brooklyn on the program. It is therefore difficult to see Indiana and Philadelphia dropping enough matches to see Miami overtake them.
Therefore, we are heading towards a “play-in”, surely against the Pacers or the Sixers. Even Cleveland, if Donovan Mitchell and company continue their free fall.
Playing the season over one or two matches is risky. But the Heat are used to it, having already experienced this last season: defeat against Atlanta, before coming very close to the exit against the Bulls. Miami, however, escaped, before succeeding in reaching the Finals afterwards…
“ We've never made it easy, so why make it simple now? »asks Jimmy Butler.
Tie breaker : when two teams have the same record at the end of the season, home advantage is determined by a series of successive criteria. The first is that of the results of the regular season meetings between the two clubs.
