The listing of attainable Miami Heat first-round playoff opponents has been whittled from 4 at the beginning of the NBA play-in spherical to 2: the Atlanta Hawks or the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Those two groups will meet Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Cleveland to find out which can journey to South Florida for Sunday’s 1 p.m. Game 1 of the opening-round best-of-seven collection towards the top-seeded Heat at FTX Arena.
The Hawks punched their ticket to Friday’s winner-take-all play-in showdown with 132-103 victory Wednesday evening over the visiting Charlotte Hornets at State Farm Arena.
On Tuesday evening, the Cavaliers fell into the Friday evening’s all-or-nothing recreation with a 115-108 highway loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
The play-in spherical determines the Nos. 7-8 playoff seeds in every convention, with a contest among the many groups that positioned seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth within the convention on the shut of the common season.
As a results of Tuesday’s play-in opener, the Nets, who ended the common season seventh within the East, earned the No. 7 seed and can open the primary spherical of the playoffs Sunday towards the No. 2 Boston Celtics.
With Wednesday’s loss, the Hornets, who closed the common season tenth within the East, have been eradicated from playoff rivalry and have become eligible for the NBA draft lottery.
The Cavaliers closed the common season eighth within the East, the Hawks ninth.
The Heat went 1-2 towards Cleveland in the course of the common season, 3-1 towards the Hawks.
The winner of Friday’s Cavaliers-Hawks can have a few 39-hour turnaround earlier than dealing with the Heat, with the Heat postseason opener the primary of 4 NBA playoff video games on Sunday.
The loser of Friday’s Cleveland-Atlanta recreation additionally shall be eligible for the NBA draft lottery.
As the No. 1 seed, the Heat can have homecourt benefit all through the Eastern Conference playoffs, together with Games 1 and a couple of of the primary spherical on Sunday and Tuesday at FTX Arena.
The Cavaliers are the lone Eastern Conference staff the Heat has but to face within the playoffs within the Heat’s 34 seasons. The Heat have performed the Hawks twice within the postseason, dropping 3-2 within the 1994 first spherical and dropping 4-3 within the 2009 first spherical, the preliminary playoff look of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
The Hawks final season superior to the Eastern Conference finals with a lot of the identical core at present in place. The Cavaliers haven’t been to the playoffs since dropping the 2018 NBA Finals in LeBron James’ closing season with the staff earlier than leaving for the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com