This is, after all, all new for a workforce that not often performs from the underside of the playoff pack.
But right here stand the Miami Heat within the NBA play-in event for the primary time, a playoff preamble to the best-of-seven opening spherical that begins Saturday.
For the Heat, after ending in seventh place within the Eastern Conference, it comes all the way down to this: two tries to win one sport and advance. Lose each, and the season is over by the point the clock strikes midnight Friday.
“I think this is going to be fun,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned. “I think you have to embrace this new experience. To the old heads in our locker room, we’ve experienced a long career and not have had this opportunity.”
So on to the play-in it’s.
“I think this is a really good game to compete and go after it,” Spoelstra mentioned. “We’re looking forward to it. Our guys love competition and this has high stakes to it, and that’s ultimately where you find out about yourself, is when there’s stakes to it, when there’s consequences to it. And I think that’s always driven the best out of our team.”
Format: The Heat play the eighth-place Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Miami. If the Heat win that sport, they’re completed with the play-in spherical and open the best-of-seven first spherical Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the highway towards the No. 2 Boston Celtics.
Should the Heat lose Tuesday, they then would play at dwelling Friday at both 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. towards the winner of Wednesday’s sport between the ninth-place Toronto Raptors and Tenth-place Chicago Bulls. The winner of such a Friday win-or-go-home sport would open the primary spherical on Sunday towards the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks.
Historical perspective: The play-in spherical has been contested in its present format since 2021.
In the primary two years of the event going into this week’s sport, the seventh-place workforce is 4-0, but to be compelled right into a second sport.
Last yr, Brooklyn, because the seventh-place workforce within the Eastern Conference, received its play-in opener 115-108 towards the eighth-place Cleveland Cavaliers. In the Western Conference final yr, the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers 109-104.
Seed success: In the primary two seasons of the play-in, seventh-place groups have secured the No. 7 playoff seed every time. Eighth-place groups have superior to the playoffs solely as soon as of their 4 doable occasions. Ninth-place groups have made the playoffs three of 4 occasions. And Tenth-place groups have but to advance to the playoffs.
Broadcast: There isn’t any native tv within the play-in spherical, subsequently no sport protection on Bally Sports Sun. The Heat’s Tuesday evening sport airs solely on TNT, which additionally could be the case if the Heat require a Friday sport.
Head to move: The Heat closed the season sequence 3-1 towards the Hawks. Should they require a second play-in sport, they completed 0-3 towards the Bulls and 1-3 towards the Raptors.
In potential first-round sequence, the Heat went 2-2 towards the Celtics and 2-2 towards the Bucks (successful twice when Giannis Antetokounmpo was out for Milwaukee).
Heat play-in expertise: Kevin Love was a member of final season’s Cleveland Cavaliers who misplaced to Brooklyn within the opening spherical of the play-in after which misplaced to the Atlanta Hawks within the sport for the ultimate East playoff berth, failing to advance. Cody Zeller and Caleb Martin had been with the 2021 Charlotte Hornets who had been eradicated within the first sport of the play-in.
Record books: Statistics from the play-in event are neither thought-about regular-season nor playoff statistics, as a substitute in a class of their very own.
Roster limits: Teams can costume as much as 15 gamers for play-in and playoff video games, with two-way gamers ineligible. For the Heat, which means Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson can follow and journey with the Heat, however can not play.
Injury report: The solely eligible participant within the Heat-Hawks sport definitively out is Heat rookie large man, attributable to again spasms.
Schedule:
Heat vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. TNT
Heat vs. Bulls/Raptors, 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Friday, TNT (if needed, if Heat lose Tuesday).
Heat vs. Celtics, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, (if Heat win Tuesday).
Heat vs. Bucks, Sunday, Time TBA (if Heat want Friday sport vs. Bulls/Raptors and win that sport).
Tickets: Available by means of Ticketmaster (exhibiting Monday as little as $34)..
Odds: The Heat are 4.5-point favorites based on Caesar’s SportsGuide, with the over-under at 226.5.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com