Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Miami Heat will officially be in the play-in.
OK, I see that I have been stopped. But that’s because the Heat have now officially clinched a play-in berth for the fourth-straight year as a result of their 121-95 loss to the Toronto Raptors. As a result, they became only the third team in NBA History to appear in the play-in four times, let alone four-straight.
Miami is 4-2 in play-in games and was the first team in the tournament’s history to win two-straight on the road to advance to the postseason, besting the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.
Atlanta and Chicago frequently accompanied the Heat in the play-in in the past. Though both will (likely) miss it this year. Chicago is already eliminated from playoff contention, while the Hawks, currently the No. 5 seed, are two games up on the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 7 seed.
The Bucks eliminated themselves from the play-in conversation two weeks ago, automatically gifting the Heat a play-in bid, at minimum. Though they entered the week with the possibility of securing a top-5 seed, albeit a very slim one.
Evidently, that wasn’t the case.
Against the other three teams currently positioned to appear in the play-in, Miami is 5-7. It took three of four from Charlotte and two of three from Philadelphia, but it went a dismal 0-5 against the Orlando Magic, with four losses in the regular season and one in the Emirates Cup knockout stage.
The Heat went 8-13 against the East’s top-6. They are also just 21-30 against teams with a .500 or better record, while they’re 20-8 against the inverse. Their 21-30 record is the second-worst among the top-10 in the East (Philadelphia is 18-32) and the 15th-best in the NBA.
Heat will have another game in Toronto Thursday before closing their final three-game road trip of the season against the Washington Wizards on Friday, their final back-to-back of the season.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. named finalist for Sixth Man of the Year award
- Heat will have 13th best lottery odds ahead of 2026 NBA Draft
- How this Heat rookie ‘surprised’ many in organization
- Why this two-man combination was ‘challenging’ for Heat
- How the Miami Heat can move up to 12th in lottery race
- Norman Powell noncommittal on future with Heat
- Pelle Larsson reveals areas he wants to improve entering third season
This felt inevitable. The Jimmy Butler/Caleb Martin carrying Miami to from a 8 seed to the Finals, set this franchise back. They got man handled by Denver, but instead of improving the roster, than ran it back. This was despite there being some writing on the walls that Jimmy was unhappy.
So during the next middling season, instead of moving Butler while he may have had some value around the league, they held that this was a Finals team and could catch fire.
Then instead of paying Jimmy (knowing how well Jimmy acts when he doesn’t get what he wants…See the infamous TWolves fallout), the decided to run it back, with their closest thing to a superstar disgruntled, further diminishing his value.
And again – we ran it back after having the most embarrassing playoff performance in the history of the NBA.
This team has steadily been falling apart under a clueless leadership team, that has lost the plot of the modern NBA. I have little faith they can fix it. I have little confidence that Pat and Andy have any clue how to manage a modern roster, and my belief in Spo is at a near all time low. This franchise is committing mal practice by forcing minutes to Vets, so they can finish 10th in the East, instead of firmly in the lottery and gaining experience for the kids. This franchise paid a 22 year old, $62.4M, without him having had any real productive seasons, and then firmly buried him on the bench. This franchise wants Kel’el Ware to be Victor Wembanyama (he’ll never be), but without any growing pains.
It’s embarrassing to be a Heat fan, because it’s clear there is no way out of this. Ownership won’t fire Pat. Pat won’t fire Spo. Pat, Andy and Spo won’t change the way we do business.
“It’s embarrassing to be a Heat fan, because it’s clear there is no way out of this. Ownership won’t fire Pat. Pat won’t fire Spo. Pat, Andy and Spo won’t change the way we do business.“
Also would like to add that the heat little birdies in the media telling us that bs about Giannis was almost traded here on feb 4th selling false hope again they no what they doing by putting these dumb stories out there like that.
Also is the Front office that scared by the Beasley and Winslow picks they hate the top 10 of the draft it’s sad and we as fans suffer for. Run it back playin kings.
Only choice we have is hopefully bam request a trade and stands firm on his request. That’s the only way this team can get better and start over. I’d rather watch a young up and coming talented team then watch another year of mediocrity and people making excuses for said mediocrity
this miami heat season soundtrack
Heat had a team meeting after the game. I hope Bam didn’t jump on everyone. The captain had 7 points in 37 minutes on 2-13/1-7 shooting. If your center is shooting and missing 3’s at crunch time, your team has problems. Spo sacrificed defense for offense this season. Unfortunately, when the defense fails, the offense falls apart.
“This town needs an enema.”
~ The Joker ~
“Starting at the top ”
~ SunMan ~
It’s time for all of us to quit pretending Heat is a competitive team. Heat need to get this season over with ASAP.
Sucks that the NBA let Charlotte steal Heat’s 2027 pick. Not easy to rebuild without picks. The worse Miami does next year, the higher the pick for Charlotte. I see the Hornets getting Miami’s lottery pick, compounding the Rozier debacle choreographed by Adam Silver. I still don’t understand why Riley didn’t sue tf out of both the NBA and Charlotte.
Riley has mismanaged the construction of this team. It’s just good enough to miss the lottery and just bad enough to remain one notch above lottery teams, year after year, after year, after year. While lottery teams keep drafting the best young players and improving, Miami is stagnant.
Thanks Pat. Time for you to ride off into the sunset so someone else can come in and turn the ship around and head it in a different/better direction.
Thanks for the post. I saw this a long ways back. Pat is not able to function adequately at his job. He hasn’t been able to for quite some time now. When we finally get someone new, everyone will go, “Oh, now I see what we’ve been missing.”
Nothing much to get upset about, as most of us saw this coming. We just aren’t good enough. The struggle between those who tried to keep the faith and those who were more realistic about the Heat’s chances has been settled and reality bites. No one should be satisfied with this version of Heat Culture as it’s become decidedly trite and tawdry. Time to start demanding better, even if only in a change of direction or approach. There is little left to be proud of anymore and only the honest need for improvement. This season is done. Let’s cut out the play-in malarky as we’ve been down that road before and we shouldn’t get fooled again. This year let’s play it smart and get the best pick we can and start focusing on tomorrow. So here’s to a brighter future and as always, Go Heat!.
tawdry who the f taught u that word at beach.wont get fooled again saw them in old miami baseball stadium in the 70s as a student at the u. also panthers stadium 2021roger and pete gotta little father time in them about same age as our gm.its hard to stay on top in sports 30 great run pat has given us but its time for him to do right by the org and retire.
Absolutely, for Pat, or as the Chambers Brothers once said, “Time has come today.” And thanks for getting my reference to The Who, who I saw at Joe Robbie.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and … you won’t get fooled again.”
~ George W. Bush ~
roger daltey words for me