We all know this is the reality that nobody wanted, but the Miami Heat officially clinched a play-in spot for the third straight year.
The result of Thursday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies didn’t matter after the Milwaukee Bucks secured a 126-113 win over the tanking Philadelphia 76ers. Giannis Antetokounmpo put together a super-human-like stat line, scoring 35 points with 17 rebounds and 20 assists.
Miami hosts the Bucks Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. EST, the first of a back-to-back for the Bucks, who are currently without All-Star guard Damian Lillard (bloodclot) and Bobby Portis (suspension), among others.
It had a chance to lock in their spot Wednesday ahead of their game against Boston. However, it secured its sixth-straight win, pushing it back one more night.
The Heat enter Friday tied for the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, a 0.5 game ahead of the Chicago Bulls and 1.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks.
“Look, you never want to be so cynical that none of this matters,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said earlier this week, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “There’s a flip side to this. Just only playing for ping-pong balls is not a great existence. Are we where we had planned to be as an organization? No, but there is great competition now league-wide. And when you have something to play for as an organization, it’s fun and it matters still.”
The NBA released their play-in schedule earlier in the week. Should the Heat play the No. 9/10 game, the game will be televised on ESPN on Wednesday, April. 16. The winner will go onto play the loser of the 7/8 matchup on April 18 on TNT.
Miami, who closed each of the last two regular seasons as the No. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively, went 1-1 in the play-in both seasons. Now that it’s in unfamiliar territory in the 9/10 (as of right now), a play-in split will end its season prematurely. The Heat would also keep their lottery-protected pick in that scenario, giving them two picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The Heat is playing some of their best basketball of the season, surprisingly enough. Each team has their highs and lows, but do you think the Heat will win two play-in games and make the postseason? Let us know in the comments!
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