With the season on the line, it's now or never for the Heat to make a playoff push
Welcome to Bulletin Board Material, the Miami Herald’s weekday roundup covering everything in the South Florida sports scene. A lot to discuss. Let’s get right to it.
Heat in trouble
The Miami Heat's back is against the wall. That happens when a team drops both home games in a playoff series.
So how can the Heat overcome its 3-1 deficit to the Philadelphia 76ers and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals?
The simple answer: Win the final three games.
The slightly less simple answer: Show up in the fourth quarter.
The final 12 minutes have been Miami's downfall and Philadelphia's greatest strength four games into the series. Overall, Philadelphia has outscored the Heat by 42 points in the fourth quarter in the series, the widest margin of any of the eight playoff series heading into Sunday.
Saturday's 106-102 Philadelphia win at AmericanAirlines Arenawas no exception. Despite the Heat getting 25 points off the bench from Dwyane Wade (including 12 in the fourth quarter) and forcing the Sixers to turn the ball over a staggering 27 times, the Heat still fell short. The dagger: a 19-2 Philadelphia run that started in the final minute of the third quarter and extended well into the fourth. Miami never recovered from there.
Now it's onto Game 5. The ball is back in Philadelphia's court (literally and figuratively), with tipoff set for 8 p.m.Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
More Heat coverage from the weekend:
▪ From columnist Greg CoteSaturday was a hope-crushing Heat loss that the 76ers had no business winning.
▪ While we've mostly talked doom and gloom, there have been some positives for the Heat in the series.
Almost draft day
It's almost here, people.
In three days, the NFL Draft will be upon us, and you will finally get the chance to see your team pick up the future faces of the franchise — or the team's next potential bust. No guarantees here.
For the Miami Dolphins, the directions in which they could go with the 11th overall pick seem virtually endless.
Do they grab a defensive stalwart such as Vita Vea, Derwin James, Roquan Smith or Tremaine Edmunds? Do they grab an offensive lineman? Do they pull the trigger and trade up for Baker Mayfield? Do they trade back to stockpile on picks so they can address more needs?
Time will tell what the Dolphins plan to do. For now, we can only rely on what draft experts think the Dolphins will do. Four of those experts talked with our Barry Jackson and gave us their insight. See their thoughts here. (Hint: Think defense)
In other Miami Dolphins news:
▪ ESPN's Dolphins writer has Miami going 8-8 this season. The writers of the 13 teams Miami faces, well, they're not that optimistic.
▪ From columnist Greg Cote: The Dolphins' 2018 schedule isn't daunting. Rather, it's a chance for Mike Tannenbaum and Adam Gase to save their jobs.
Marlins swept (again)
A common theme persisted for the Miami Marlins during its four-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Marlins would take a lead, show some sense of optimism it could maintain it and then, at some point, blow it.
Four games. Four losses. Another series defeat.
The rundown:
Thursday: Lewis Brinson hit a pair of early home runs to give Miami a 3-2 lead. They lost 12-3
Friday: The exception of the series. Marlins starter Trevor Richards struggled from the onset. Miami lost 8-0.
Saturday: The Marlins at one point held a four-run lead. It quickly evaporated. The dagger: A walk-off home run from the Brewers' Jesus Aguilar after a 13-pitch at-bat. Miami lost 6-5.
Sunday: Rookie Caleb Smith struck out 10 batters and allowed just two runs through six innings. Errors ensued afterward. Miami lost 4-2.
The Marlins are now 5-16 on the season. They have lost seven of their past eight and 13 of their past 16.
Next up, a three-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Canes QB battle continues
Spring ended Saturday for the Miami Hurricanes, with hundreds of UM football alumni and family members witnessing a final scrimmage on campus that punctuated this basic message from Mark Richt: Malik Rosier is still the frontrunner, but the race to decide the starter is without question continuing through fall camp.
As he walked away from his post-scrimmage interview, Richt was asked if the quarterback race is still open.
"Absolutely," Richt said. "Until the bitter end."
The week ahead
Miami Heat
Tuesday, 8 p.m.: Game 5 at Philadelphia 76ers (televised on TNT and Fox Sports Sun)
Thursday, TBD (if necessary): Game 6 vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Saturday, TBD (if necessary): Game 7 at Philadelphia 76ers
Miami Marlins
Monday, 10:10 p.m.: @ Los Angeles Dodgers (telvised on Fox Sports Florida)
Tuesday, 10:10 p.m.: @ Los Angeles Dodgers (televised on Fox Sports Florida)
Wednesday, 7:35 p.m: @ Los Angeles Dodgers (televised on Fox Sports Florida)
Friday, 7:10 p.m.: vs. Colorado Rockies (televised on Fox Sports Florida)
Saturday, 7:10 p.m.: vs. Colorado Rockies (televised on Fox Sports Florida)
Sunday, 1:10 p.m.: vs. Colorado Rockies (televised on Fox Sports Florida)
NFL Draft
Thursday, 8 p.m.: Round 1 (televised on Fox, ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network)
Friday, 7 p.m.: Rounds 2 and 3 (televised on Fox, ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network)
Saturday, noon: Rounds 4-7 (televised on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network)
This story was originally published April 23, 2018 at 10:06 AM with the headline "With the season on the line, it's now or never for the Heat to make a playoff push."