Miami Heat newcomer Kevin Love has lived the NBA play-in event. He doesn’t wish to return. With good motive.
While for some decrease seeds, the play-in spherical, the place one or two victories can safe a spot within the first spherical, is a second likelihood at making issues proper, it additionally generally is a path fraught with peril for groups that below the NBA’s earlier format would have superior on to the best-of-seven opening spherical.
“We certainly have an uphill climb to get to where we need to be,” Love mentioned, with the Heat at No. 7 within the East headed into Friday evening’s rematch towards the Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami-Dade Arena, “and, greater than something, that’s simply to not be within the play-in.
“We’re right there, and we feel like we can’t keep setting ourselves back. We need to start winning these next several games in order to put ourselves in a good spot and able to not have to be in the play-in.”
Love speaks from expertise.
Last season, Love’s Cavaliers closed the season No. 8 within the East, with a turnaround 44-38 season. Under the playoff format earlier than it modified in 2020, that will have meant a direct ticket to the primary spherical towards the No. 1 seed.
But within the wake of the league’s pandemic-interrupted season in 2020, the NBA formulated a stop-gap, last-chance play-in format due to that shortened schedule.
That strategy, in flip, led to the present play-in system, first put into place in 2021 as a way of incentivizing groups to not tank late-season video games in favor of lottery place. The play-in format as an alternative has 20 of the league’s 30 groups within the working for the postseason on the finish of the common season.
Essentially, it’s a three-game spherical in every convention performed, this season, within the 5 days between the April 9 finish of the common season and April 15 begin of the primary spherical.
The opening-round of video games has the No. 7 seed internet hosting the No. 8 seed in a single recreation to find out the No. 7 seed that can face the No. 2 seed within the opening spherical. That spherical additionally has the No. 9 seed internet hosting the No. 10 seed in a single recreation for the fitting to play on the highway towards the loser of the Nos. 7-8 recreation.
The loser of Nos. 7-8 then hosts vs. winner of Nos. 9-10 in a single recreation to find out the No. 8 seed that faces the No. 1 seed within the best-of-seven opening spherical.
Last season, Love’s Cavaliers misplaced the Nos. 7-8 recreation on the highway to the Brooklyn Nets. That dropped them to a last-chance house recreation towards the winner of the Nos. 9-10 recreation, with the Atlanta Hawks defeating the visiting Charlotte Hornets in that Nos. 9-10 recreation.
Ultimately, Atlanta, as a No. 9 seed, gained on the highway on the No. 8 Cavaliers, with the Hawks occurring to play the No. 1 Heat within the 2022 first spherical.
“We saw last year, after having such a great year and having gone through injuries in Cleveland, we still gave ourselves a chance,” Love mentioned. “But we didn’t make the playoffs and that was a major letdown.”
In the 2 seasons of the present play-in format, No. 8 has been a very tenuous place, with the Heat returning to play Friday only one recreation forward of Atlanta within the Nos. 7-8 race within the East.
In the Western Conference final season, the No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers defeated the No. 8 Golden State Warriors to safe the No. 7 playoff seed. Then, with their second likelihood, the No. 8 Warriors misplaced of their last-chance recreation to the visiting No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies, who had defeated the visiting No. 10 San Antonio Spurs of their opening win-or-go-home recreation.
Over the 2 years of the play-in in its present format, the opening video games of the play-in have held to type, with No. 7 seeds 4-0 towards visiting No. 8 seeds, and No. 9 seeds 4-0 towards visiting No. 10 seeds.
But within the second spherical of the play-in, No. 8 seeds are simply 1-3, with No. 9 seeds 3-1.
The Heat’s Friday evening return for the conclusion of their six-game homestand will come at No. 7, with a 1 1/2-game lead over No. 8 Atlanta, a three-game lead over the No. 9 Toronto Raptors and a 3 1/2-game lead over the No. 10 Washington Wizards.
The Heat exited Wednesday evening’s 104-100 loss to the Cavaliers three video games behind the No. 6 Brooklyn Nets and 4 video games behind the No. 5 New York Knicks, with 15 video games remaining on their regular-season schedule.
As far as tiebreakers, the Heat nonetheless can acquire the playoff tiebreaker towards the Knicks by profitable the 2 remaining video games in that season sequence, have misplaced the tiebreaker to the Nets, have gained the tiebreaker towards the Hawks, and with victories in remaining video games towards the Raptors and Wizards can put themselves in rivalry for these tiebreakers.
Heat ahead Jimmy Butler mentioned he leaves the standings to others, but in addition appreciates the doubtless dire penalties of the play-in spherical.
“I don’t look at the standings, I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t. I don’t look at none of that stuff.” he mentioned. “I’m guessing we’re within the play-in, proper? So we higher begin profitable some video games and get out of that.
“If we don’t, then we better win whenever the play-in thing starts.”
Per the NBA:
Q: When is the 2023 Play-In Tournament?
“The Play-In Tournament will begin Tuesday, April 11 and conclude Friday, April 14. The teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have two opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.”
Q: How will the Play-In Tournament be structured?
“At the conclusion of the regular season but before the first round of the playoffs, the team with the 7th-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the 8th-highest winning percentage in a Play-In Game (the “Seven-Eight Game”). The winner of the Seven-Eight Game in every convention will earn the No. 7 seed.
“The team with the 9th-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the 10th-highest winning percentage in the “Nine-Ten Game”. The loser of the Seven-Eight Game will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game in a Play-In Game, and the winner of that recreation in every convention will earn the No. 8 seed.”
Q: What occurs to the winners of the Play-In Tournament?
“The winners of the Play-In tournament will receive the 7th and 8th-seeded positions in each conference. Following the Play-In Tournament, the NBA Playoffs will commence with the traditional 16-team, best-of-seven series structure.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com