Where the Heat and other teams battling for playoffs stand with schedules, tiebreakers

The five teams competing for the Eastern Conference’s three final playoff spots took a breather on Tuesday, the calm before the storm that will decide which of those team will be the first-round opponents — some might say roadkill — for the Bucks, Raptors and 76ers.

The Heat (38-39) enters these final nine days of the season standing eighth the East, one half game ahead of No. 9 Orlando, one half game behind No. 7 Brooklyn and one game behind No. 6 Detroit.

Resetting where things stand among the teams, from a Heat perspective:

▪ Heat: Miami and Brooklyn probably have the most difficult schedules of the five teams.

The Heat, coming off a Monday loss in Boston, has a Wednesday home game against Boston, road games Friday at Minnesota (which beat Golden State in Minneapolis last Friday) and at Toronto on Sunday, and then home to Philadelphia on Tuesday and at Brooklyn on Wednesday.

The 76ers are resting center Joel Embiid for three games this week but haven’t indicated if he will play Tuesday against the Heat. Similarly, the Raptors must decide whether to rest Kawhi Leonard for Sunday’s game. But even without him, the Raptors beat the Heat in Miami last month.

▪ Detroit (39-38): The Pistons’ remaining games, in order: home against Indiana on Wednesday, at Oklahoma City, home to Charlotte and Memphis and at New York. That stacks up as the easiest of schedules of the remaining contenders.

Even though Miami and Detroit split the season series, the Pistons would have a superior conference record if the teams finish in a two-way tie, giving Detroit the tiebreaker.

▪ Brooklyn (39-39): The Nets’ four remaining games include no easy ones: home against Toronto, at Milwaukee, at Indiana and then home to the Heat.

By beating the Nets in the season finale, the Heat would clinch a two-team tiebreaker against Brooklyn by virtue of winning the season series, 3-1. But the Nets likely would be in position in a two-team tie if they beat the Heat in the finale by virtue of a superior conference record.

▪ Orlando (38-40): The Magic’s remaining schedule is easier than Miami’s, with game at home against New York and Atlanta and then road games at Boston and at Charlotte.

What’s more, Orlando owns the tiebreaker over the Heat by virtue of a 3-1 win in the season series.

▪ Charlotte (35-42): The Hornets, who stand three games behind the Heat, finish with games at New Orleans, home to Toronto, at Detroit, at Cleveland and home against Orlando.

Charlotte already has clinched the tiebreaker against Miami by virtue of a superior division record.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Goran Dragic, who had a triple-double on Thursday and scored 30 points on Monday, said during the last couple games, “I feel great, especially my legs. I’m getting back that explosion. When you feel good, you’re going to play a little better.”

Dragic and Dion Waiters have started three games together this season, and in those games, Dragic had a triple-double and 30 points in two of them, and Waiters had a season-high 28 in the other.

▪ Spoelstra remains encouraged by the growth of Bam Adebayo, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in 30 minutes on Monday.

“He was tremendous,” Spoelstra said. “He was making so many plays in that second quarter, whether in man or zone. He was around that ball every possession. It’s the relentlessness that becomes infectious that he’s starting to bring every game.”

▪ According to the New York Post, Dwyane Wade’s fabulous night in New York on Saturday - in which he helped lead the Heat to a win amid thunderous applause - also included attending an after-party for Saturday Night Live with his wife Gabrielle Union and the show’s producers and cast, including Lorne Michaels and Kate McKinnon. Wade has a friendly relationship with some of the show’s cast members.

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 12:07 PM.