The Miami Heat’s season could be decided by how the team performs over the course of the next 11 games.
Up until now, the Miami Heat have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the Eastern Conference. Even after a somewhat disappointing offseason, the overall thought that the Heat would still be good enough to be a playoff team in the East. At least thus far, they haven’t performed in a way that would reinforce that idea.
But that could be starting to change.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen some signs of optimism for the Heat and their play. For example, a few weeks ago the Heat had an excellent win over the Phoenix Suns. It was a night that many believed would catapult the Heat forward. Then, they went ahead in losing four-straight games.
The injury bug hit the team at the same time as Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler missed some time, resulting in a losing skid for the Heat. Now, as the team continues to get healthier, and as they’ve won four of their last five games (including a huge win over the Boston Celtics), there’s hope that this is the moment the Heat can start a move up the East standings
The Miami Heat needs to feast on somewhat of a weak schedule
And this is also somewhat of a soft spot on the schedule. In other words, if the Heat doesn’t make a move up the standings over the next couple of weeks, I’m not sure if they’re ever going to this season.
The way the schedule lines up, the next 12 games for the Miami Heat seem to be quite favorable. After a clash with the Grizzlies Monday night, it softens up over the next couple of weeks. Of the team’s next 12 games, seven of them are at home and 10 of them are against teams that are .500 or below it.
Let’s take a look at the schedule:
- Dec 5 – @ Grizzlies
- Dec 6 – vs. Pistons
- Dec 8 vs. Clippers
- Dec 10 vs. Spurs
- Dec 12 @ Pacers
- Dec 14 @ Thunder
- Dec 15 @ Houston
- Dec 17 @ San Antonio
- Dec 20 vs. Bulls
- Dec 23 vs. Pacers
- Dec 26 vs. Timberwolves
- Dec 28 vs. Lakers
It’s not that difficult and the team’s road trip during December is quite manageable. The Texas two-step isn’t what it used to be and the Heat should beat both the Pacers and Thunder. If the Heat doesn’t win eight or nine games during the next 12 games, it’d be a huge missed opportunity.
Heading into tonight’s matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Heat is 11-12 and ranked ninth in the East standings. Though, they’re just two games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the fourth seed and just 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third seed.
If the Heat is the team that it believes it is, this is the moment where they’re going to start to turn things around. It’s time for them to prove it.