Even before Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, the Miami Heat were eliminated from the 2024-25 NBA In-Season Tournament with the Atlanta Hawks’ 117-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As a result, the Heat will play two games on either Dec. 12 or Dec. 13 and Dec. 15 or Dec. 16. Those matchups, locations and times will be played at a later date.
The Hawks’ win on Friday moves them to 3-1 in Group C play, meaning they could make the quarterfinal as a Wild Card team, at worst, should a couple results elsewhere go a certain way.
The Heat already entered Friday needing plenty of results to happen for them just to stay alive through the weekend, including a win against the Raptors, a Hawks loss, a Pistons loss (to the Bucks) and a loss by either New York (to Charlotte) or Orlando (to Brooklyn). The best Miami can finish is now 2-2; they earned a 17-point win over the Indiana Pacers followed by narrow losses to both the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks.
As it stands right now, the Heat are 8-8 with a deadpan +0.0 adjusted NET Rating, per Dunks & Threes. They have the league’s 19th-best adjusted offense and the 10th-best adjusted defense, accounting for strength of schedule.
They will have back-to-back games against Toronto before four contests against the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers before at least a three-day layoff. What do you think their record will be over that six-game stretch?
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This is a developing news story. Stay tuned for updates.
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