The Miami Heat will be vulnerable in the play-in tournament
The Miami Heat will be vulnerable in a potential play-in tournament format.
The Miami Heat only has a handful of regular-season games before the playoffs. However, even though this team is expected to be in the postseason, one way or another, you can’t help but feel like this was somewhat a lost season for Miami.
Coming off an NBA Finals appearance, there was hope that this team would be able to build off that experience and potentially take the next step as a team. For a myriad of reasons, that simply hasn’t been the case this season for the Heat.
Instead, you can make the case that this team has taken a step back and faces an identity crisis heading into the offseason. Because of that, and due to their inconsistency this season, I simply don’t know what to expect from this team in the playoffs. Especially if they have to play their way into it in a play-in tournament.
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While it’s easy to look at the Heat’s roster and suggest that they would be one of the most dangerous teams in a one-game sample-type tournament, you can look at what they’ve done or what they haven’t done this season and think the opposite. That this is one of the most vulnerable talents heading into a possible play-in tournament.
The Miami Heat in the play-in tournament?
The Heat is currently 7th in the Eastern Conference and would have to beat the Charlotte Hornets in order to officially qualify for the playoffs. Should they lose that game, in the play-in format, they would have to beat the winner between the 9th seed (Indiana Pacers) and 10th seed (Washington Wizards) to enter as the 8th seed.
Either way, I don’t truly trust this year’s version of the Heat in a one-game sample. In fact, you can look up and down this team’s schedule and you’d be hard-pressed to find an impressive win this season.
Miami had one impressive win against Utah earlier this year but, other than that, this is a team that has struggled to beat any playoff teams. And we’re supposed to trust this team to beat them in a one-game sample?
More specifically, the Heat is only 1-2 against the Hornets and 1-2 against the Pacers this season. They are 2-1 against the Wizards but good luck in a one-game sample against Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal.
This season has provided nothing but disappointment for the Heat. And even though Jimmy Butler has said all the right things and is actually having one of the best seasons of his career, this is not the look of a team that is priming for a deep playoff run.
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The Heat doesn’t have the same magic, cohesiveness, or momentum that they had last season entering the postseason. Miami isn’t one of the most dangerous teams heading into the postseason anymore; they’re one of the most vulnerable.