Heat faces play-in tournament reality, play-in game vs. Hawks: ‘It’s just the bed we made’

“Embrace the struggle” has been part of Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s mantra in the final weeks of the regular season. Now, Spoelstra is working to get his players to embrace the play-in tournament.

One of the most frustrating Heat seasons in recent history will require Miami to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in tournament. With the Heat now locked into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, it will host the eighth-place Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at at either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. in a play-in game aired exclusively on TNT for the right to the East’s seventh playoff seed.

“Maybe this is the path for this group,” Spoelstra said following the Heat’s 114-108 loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night at Capital One Arena. “That’s the way I look at it. We’re a dangerous team. We’re finding our health, we’re getting a confidence about how we’re playing.”

“So when you say you want to embrace this type of competition and this opportunity, that’s what it means. It’s competition at it’s highest form and it’s a new experience. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”

But Spoelstra also admits the Heat didn’t expect to be a play-in team after finishing last regular season as the East’s top playoff seed on its way to finishing just one win short of reaching the NBA Finals.

“This is our reality and you have to embrace that,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat set to close the regular season on Sunday against the Orlando Magic as Kaseya Center (1 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “This is a totally new experience for all of us. It’s not exactly where we wanted to be heading into this season if you go back to training camp. But that is totally irrelevant. We have this in front of us and it’s competition and it’s great competition with a lot at stake.”

The Heat’s inconsistent play throughout the season led to its play-in berth. Miami entered Saturday with the NBA’s 25th-ranked offensive rating and ninth-ranked defensive rating this season, but has the league’s 16th-ranked offensive rating and 22nd-ranked defensive rating in 22 games since the All-Star break.

“I think it’s just the bed we made. We have to lay in it,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said of being part of this season’s play-in tournament. “We have to take some responsibility for the position that we’re in, go out there and put our best foot forward.”

The NBA’s play-in tournament features the seventh- through 10th-place teams competing for the final two playoffs seeds in each conference ahead of the April 15 start of the playoffs.

How is the play-in tournament structured?

The seventh-place team in each conference hosts the eighth-place team in a play-in game on Tuesday. The winner of this matchup earns the seventh playoff seed.

The ninth-place team in each conference hosts the 10th-place team in another play-in game on Wednesday. The loser of this matchup is eliminated from playoff contention, while the winner of this matchup will go on the road to take on the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game on Friday for the right to the eighth playoff seed.

This means the No. 7 Heat will host the No. 8 Hawks on Tuesday in one of the East play-in games. The No. 9 Toronto Raptors will host the No. 10 Chicago Bulls on Wednesday in the other East play-in game.

The winner of the Heat-Hawks matchup will claim the East’s No. 7 playoff seed and open the playoffs with a first-round series against the second-seeded Boston Celtics.

The loser of the Heat-Hawks matchup will get one more opportunity to qualify for the playoffs with a matchup against the winner of the play-in game between the Raptors and Bulls on Friday. The winner of this third play-in game clinches the East’s No. 8 playoff seed and will begin the playoffs with a first-round series against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

“I feel like because there’s so much at stake, it almost feels like a one-and-done type situation, It almost feels like a Game 7 or a March Madness type situation,” said Heat forward Kevin Love, who played in last season’s play-in tournament as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It’s definitely a spot even coming out of the break, we didn’t see ourselves in. But this is the reality of the situation.”

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 playoff series during the past two seasons.

But the Heat believes it can become the exception to that rule after playing some of its best basketball of the season in recent weeks. It also helps that Heat star Jimmy Butler is in the middle of one of the best stretches of his NBA career, averaging 25.6 points per game while shooting 61.6 percent from the field in 20 games since the All-Star break.

“We’re not really too worried about where we’re at,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “I feel like we’re playing good basketball right now. And the opportunity is there in front of us, and all we have to do is win a game, get into the playoffs. Like we’ve been saying all year, when we’re at our best, we can play with anybody.”

If history is any indication, the Heat has the advantage entering Tuesday’s matchup against the Hawks. The Heat has won 15 of its past 21 games against the Hawks dating back to the 2018-19 season, including a five-game elimination of the Hawks in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

“I mean obviously they’re a very talented team, similar to us,” Herro said of the Hawks. “I’m sure they expected a better record than where they’re at. But it’d be a good fight. I’m sure they’re hungry from last year.”

Speaking from his play-in experience last season, Love said: “I do feel like in some way we have to wipe the slate clean and just go out and win one game.”

This season has been hard for the Heat and that trend continues with the extra step Miami must take just to qualify for the playoffs.

“It wouldn’t be a hard year if that wasn’t the case,” Vincent said. “It’s following suit, the way the rest of the year is going. So it kind of just seems like our reality. We have to embrace it and play well.”

INJURY REPORT

Despite already being locked into seventh place in the East, it appears the Heat may play at least a few of its regulars in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

The Heat only ruled out rookie forward Nikola Jovic (back spasms) for Sunday’s contest against the Magic.

The Heat listed Butler (rest), Herro (right quadriceps contusion) and Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness) as questionable. Bam Adebayo (left quadriceps tendon strain), Victor Oladipo (left elbow contusion) and Max Strus (right second finger hyperextension) are probable.

The Magic, which are out of playoff contention and could benefit from a loss on Sunday in terms of lottery positioning, listed eight players on their injury report.

Paolo Banchero (back tightness), Wendell Carter Jr. (left hip soreness), Markelle Fultz (left knee soreness), Gary Harris (left adductor soreness) and Franz Wagner (left ankle sprain) are questionable. Jonathan Isaac (left adductor surgery), Jay Scrubb (ineligible to play) and Moritz Wagner (right ankle sprain) are unavailable.