With Heat out of in-season tourney, NBA announces details for two missing games on its schedule
The details for the Miami Heat’s full 82-game regular-season schedule are now known.
With a gap of 11 days left open between the Heat’s home matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday and the Heat’s home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 20, the Heat learned early Wednesday morning that it will host the Toronto Raptors (7-15) on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to take on the Detroit Pistons (9-14) at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.
This in-season announcement comes because the NBA’s second-annual in-season tournament led to the league initially scheduling only 80 of each team’s 82 regular-season games amid the uncertainty surrounding which teams would advance past the group stage.
The Heat is among the 22 NBA teams that didn’t qualify for the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup tournament, closing the four-game group stage with a 2-2 record to finish in third place in its five-team group behind the first-place Milwaukee Bucks (4-0) and second-place Pistons (3-1). The Heat also didn’t advance past the group stage of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament last season.
“It’s something slightly different that you can compete for,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said last week of the NBA Cup. “I know we all would have liked to have been in Vegas. That’s not the case, but it sparks something more. When you have something to play for, I think it’s always good. I think it will just continue to get better.”
The eight teams that advanced to the knockout quarterfinal round of the tournament are the New York Knicks, Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic from the Eastern Conference, and the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks from the Western Conference.
The quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 10 and 11 in NBA markets. The Bucks will host the Magic and the Thunder will host the Mavericks on Dec. 10, and the Knicks will host the Hawks and the Rockets will host the Warriors on Dec. 11.
The four teams that win their quarterfinal games advance to the neutral-site semifinals on Dec. 14, and then two teams will play in the championship game on Dec. 17. The semifinals and championship game of the event will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In scheduling the missing two games for the 22 teams that did not make the quarterfinals of the tournament, the NBA attempted to match up two teams from the same conference that were initially scheduled to face each other only three times instead of four.
That’s exactly what the league did with the Heat. The Raptors (one at home and two on the road) and Pistons (two at home and one on the road) are two of the six East teams that the Heat was originally scheduled to play only three times this season, but now Miami will face Toronto (two at home and two on the road) and Detroit (two at home and two on the road) four times after the addition of their added matchups later this month.
With the Raptors and Pistons now off the list, the four East teams that the Heat will only play three times this season are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls and Knicks.
Before facing the Raptors and Pistons, the Heat will go through its three-game homestand that begins Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat also hosts the Phoenix Suns on Saturday and Cavaliers on Sunday before getting three days off ahead of its matchup against the Raptors in Miami on Dec. 12.
The Heat then hits the road to take on the Pistons on Dec. 16 before getting three days off and then hosting the Thunder on Dec. 20.
INJURY UPDATE
Jimmy Butler will be available for the Heat on Wednesday against the Lakers after missing Monday’s loss to the Boston Celtics with right knee soreness.
Kevin Love (back spasms) and Nikola Jovic (left ankle sprain) will also return for the Heat on Wednesday after missing time.
Josh Richardson (right heel soreness) remains questionable for the Heat.
The only Heat players definitively ruled out for its game against the Lakers are Josh Christopher (G League) and Kel’el Ware (G League).
The Lakers will be without Jaxson Hayes (right ankle sprain), Bronny James Jr. (left heel contusion), Austin Reaves (left pelvic contusion), Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery recovery) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) for Wednesday’s game in Miami.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 1:27 AM.
