Even as the Heat fights to avoid play-in, Erik Spoelstra remains supporter of tournament
The Miami Heat would not have as much unsettling uncertainty surrounding its playoff position with less than two weeks left in the regular season under the old postseason format as it does currently. But the recent addition of the NBA’s play-in tournament has the Heat scrambling among the group of teams fighting for one of the final playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference.
Despite that, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra remains a supporter of the play-in tournament because of the late-season drama and competition that he believes it has created leaguewide. The current format of the play-in tournament was first instituted by the NBA during the 2020-21 season and has since been adopted on a full-time basis.
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“I think one of the best things that’s ever happened in this league in the last decade is this play-in,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat coming off a 106-92 loss to the Raptors in Toronto on Tuesday night as it enters another big game Wednesday night against the Knicks in New York. “You have the top of the league that has gotten in a comfort zone for several years of just getting healthy, resting guys, load management, all that. You’ve had 10 to 12 teams tanking. And then you’ve had the teams unfortunately in the middle that started to mimic the teams at the top. So it diluted the competition slowly over several years.
“Now what it’s done, I believe, is it has exposed players and teams that, hey, don’t forget. The lifestyle is great, the money is great, everything about the luxuries that are afforded to us, but don’t forget for one second that this is about the competition. And that also pertains to the teams where we are right here.”
The Heat, which has just five regular-season games left after Wednesday’s matchup against the Knicks, needs to finish as a top-six seed in the East to avoid having to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
Following Tuesday’s loss to the Raptors, the seventh-place Heat entered Wednesday a half game behind the sixth-place Brooklyn Nets and three games behind the fifth-place Knicks in the East standings.
“We have an incredible opportunity in front of us,” Spoelstra continued. “We have guys hardwired for this kind of competition, knowing that it’s going to bring out all the different emotions. That’s what you’re seeing leaguewide. You’re seeing meltdowns, you’re seeing bad losses, you’re seeing surprising losses, you’re seeing incredible wins. That’s what competition brings out of teams. I believe, truly, that that’s going to bring out the best in our group.”
The NBA’s play-in tournament takes place during the nearly one-week window between the regular season and the start of the playoffs — beginning April 11 and ending April 14 this season. The seventh- through 10th-place teams compete for the final two playoffs seeds in each conference.
How is the play-in tournament structured?
The No. 7 seed in each conference hosts the No. 8 seed in a play-in game on April 11. The winner of this matchup in each conference earns the seventh playoff seed.
The No. 9 seed in each conference hosts the No. 10 seed in another play-in game on April 12. The loser of this matchup in each conference is eliminated from playoff contention. The winner of this matchup in each conference will go on the road to take on the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game on April 14 for the right to the eighth playoff seed with some first-round playoff series beginning the next day on April 15 and the rest of the series starting on April 16.
The teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will have two opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference has to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.
“We know what we want to play for,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’ve just got to get there and get to that situation. We can’t worry about this happened, that happened, we’ve got to worry about literally tonight and tonight only. And I think that’s where we could be more successful, where we can really focus in on what we we are right now and where we are.”
Based on Wednesday’s standings, the Heat would host the Atlanta Hawks in a play-in game with the East’s No. 7 playoff seed on the line. But the standings will surely continue to evolve during the final days of the regular season.
Since this version of the NBA’s play-in tournament began in the 2020-21 season, no team that has qualified for the playoffs through the play-in has won a first-round series. Play-in teams are 0-8 in first-round playoffs series during the past two seasons.
“We’ll find out,” Spoelstra said when asked if play-in teams believe they can actually have success in the playoffs. “I know what we believe. I don’t give a [expletive] what other teams think. But I know that our group does.”
▪ The Heat remains without Jamal Cain (G League), Nikola Jovic (back spasms), Lowry (left knee soreness) and Orlando Robinson (G League) against the Knicks.
