The battle for the Eastern Conference playoffs and play-in is heating up with a handful of teams jostling for position.
The Miami Heat started the year as one of the favorites in the East but a midseason slump has seen Erik Spoelstra’s side drop down to the play-in spots. Between November 4 to November 23, the Miami Heat won nine out of 10 games to start the year with a 10-5 record. Since then the team is 33-30 and has struggled to keep pace with the conference’s top teams.
A devastating 117-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday saw the Heat drop to 43-35 on the season. They are now half a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers, 1.5 games behind the Pacers and 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. To make matter worse, Sunday’s loss means they are now losing the season series 2-1 to the Pacers.
Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler was asked about the team’s recent skid and was practical and straightforward with his response:
“If we end up in the play in, we end up in the play in… we’ve never made it easy, why make it easy now?”
Jimmy Butler on the play-in looking like reality:
“We’ve never made it easy on ourself, why make it easy now?” pic.twitter.com/URSK2hsxoF
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) April 8, 2024
The Heat have lost six of their last 10 games and face a tricky upcoming schedule with the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and back-to-back games against the Toronto Raptors. Even if the team wins their remaining games, it seems highly probably that they will have to battle their way out of the play-in if they hope to make a championship push.
