The Miami Heat love the play-in game.
Two years after becoming the first play-in team to make it all the way to the NBA Finals, the Heat became the first 10-seed ever to secure a postseason spot. They handily beat the Chicago Bulls in the #9 versus #10 play-in game then earned the eighth seed with a hard-fought 123-114 win in overtime over the Atlanta Hawks.
Now, Miami’s reward is a best-of-seven first round series against the best team in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The odds of them pulling off an upset are slim, but one of the most important lessons of recent history is that you should never count out the Heat.
Tyler Herro has blossomed into a full-fledged star for Miami this season, making his NBA All-Star game debut last February and emerging as the team’s leading scorer. Herro closed out the regular season with 10 consecutive 20-point games and ensured that the Heat’s season would not end, averaging 34 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in their two play-in wins.
Based on regular season records, Miami’s 37-45 finish suggests that they are a tier or two below Cleveland who finished 64-18, yet in a match-up between these two teams, the Heat have the tools to make this series a competitive one.
The Heat have settled into a starting line-up featuring two big men, three-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo and 7’0 rookie Kel’el Ware, making them one of the few teams that can match-up with the Cavaliers’ twin towers of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Adebayo, a veteran of two NBA Finals already, comes into this series as one of the most experienced players on either team which gives Miami an advantage.
In the backcourt, the Heat have a pair of players in Davion Mitchell and Alec Burks who can ably defend Cleveland’s high octane backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Miami’s Mitchell has been a revelation over the latter part of the regular season, becoming a key cog in head coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation. He averaged 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in 22 games since March 1–all while still playing top-notch on-ball defense.
The Cavaliers have the deeper and more well-rounded team heading into this best-of-seven, but the grit and sheer determination of this Miami team makes it impossible to count them out. A scoring outburst from Herro can single-handedly win them games while Adebayo’s two-way consistency gives them high enough of a floor to stay competitive in most games.
If there’s any team that can pull off an upset in this year’s first round, it’s these Heat who are ready to put the chaos of the regular season behind them and write the next chapter of their franchise’s storied history.
