Here’s Heat’s schedule in Orlando. And Heat players weigh in on the team’s chances
As a result of the NBA’s COVID-forced shutdown, no playoff team lost out on playing more games against NBA retreads than the Heat.
So instead of closing the season with heavy doses of the Knicks, Hornets, Pistons, and Bulls - which was the pre-pandemic plan - Miami instead faces a daunting schedule in its attempt to hold onto the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Heat’s eight-game schedule of seeding games, to be played over 14 days, begins with Denver at 1 p.m. Aug. 1, a Saturday, and includes two games against Indiana and also single games against Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston, Oklahoma City and Phoenix.
All remaining NBA games this season and during the playoffs will be played, without fans, inside three arenas at the Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista.
Miami will play two weekday afternoon games, one Saturday afternoon game, one Saturday night game and three weeknight games, with another Friday game at a time to-be-determined.
The Heat will have one game on ESPN, two on TNT and one on NBA TV. The Heat’s final seeding game Aug. 14 against the Pacers might be picked up by a national network.
The Heat will play one set of games on consecutive days, on Aug. 3 against Toronto and Aug. 4 against Boston.
The NBA selected each team’s seeding games from games that remained on the schedule when COVID-19 halted the season on March 11.
Because only 22 teams were invited to participate in the resumption of the season on July 30 in Orlando, the Heat couldn’t make up two lost games apiece against the lottery-bound Knicks, Detroit, Charlotte and Chicago. None of those games will be rescheduled.
Miami’s schedule and how the Heat fared in previous meetings with that team:
▪ Heat against Denver on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
The Heat lost the only previous meeting this season, 109-89, on Nov. 5 in Colorado, shooting just 36.4 percent from the field.
▪ Heat against Toronto on Monday, Aug. 3 at 1:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
The Heat won both previous meetings ---121-110 in overtime on Dec. 3 in Toronto and 84-76 on Jan. 2 in Miami.
▪ Heat against Boston on Tuesday Aug. 4, 6:30 p.m. (TNT)
The Heat lost both previous matchups with Boston - 112-93 on Dec. 4 in Massachusetts and 109-101 on Jan. 28 in Miami.
▪ Heat against Milwaukee on Thursday, Aug. 6 at 4 p.m. (TNT)
The Heat won the first two meetings with the Bucks - 131-126 in overtime on Oct. 26 in Milwaukee, and 105-89 on March 2 in Miami. The Heat had a better record against Milwaukee than any other Eastern Conference playoff team.
▪ Heat against Phoenix on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The Heat beat the Suns in their only previous meeting, 124-108, on Nov. 7 in Phoenix, with Jimmy Butler scoring 34 points.
▪ Heat against Indiana on Monday, Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 14 (time TBD).
The Heat won the first two meetings with the Pacers --- 113-112 on Dec. 27 in Miami and 122-108 on Jan. 8 in Indiana, a game in which Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Pacers forward T.J. Warren became immersed in a physical confrontation that resulted in Warren’s ejection and Butler calling him “trash” afterward.
▪ Heat against OKC on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 8 p.m.
The Heat beat the Thunder in their first meeting -- 115-108 on Jan. 17 in OKC, behind 22 points from Kendrick Nunn.
Every Heat seeding game is expected to be televised. Fox Sports Sun plans to carry the Heat games that are not on a national network, and potentially some that are.
Miami, which has clinched a playoff spot, enters seeding play fourth in the East at 41-24, two games ahead of No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 Philadelphia and 2.5 games behind No. 3 Boston.
The seeding games will determine playoff matchups, with Miami now positioned to play the Pacers if the current standings hold.
HEAT PLAYERS OPTIMISTIC
The Heat entered the NBA hiatus fourth in the East, but Miami is emerging from the stoppage feeling as confident as a favorite.
“I like our chances just as good as anybody or better,” Heat forward Udonis Haslem told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on The Jump on Thursday. “We probably have a better chance than anybody. Now it’s mental. You talk about a mentally tough team. There’s no more mentally tough team or organization in the NBA. I like our chances just as good or more than anybody.”
Heat guard Goran Dragic told WPLG-ABC 10’s Will Manso that the Heat could be “really good” during these most unusual playoffs.
“When you need to bounce back, we always respond,” Dragic said. “We have guys who already played in the playoffs. Our leader, Jimmy Butler, has a lot of experience and we have a lot of young guys that are not afraid. We have a lot of experience with veteran guys, younger guys. I think we got everything.
“The good thing is we have a good group of guys. Everybody likes to play together. We already did it so we know how to develop that chemistry. We have the ingredients. It’s going to take a little bit of time to get that rhythm back, that shape. But everybody is in the same boat.”
But Duncan Robinson admits it will be challenging not to play at AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Heat was 27-5.
“We love playing in our home arena, having fans and that support,” Robinson told WSVN-Fox’s Steve Shapiro. “It will be a great challenge as a younger team. That will be the ultimate test.”
Dragic told Shapiro: “The main concern is safety. You want to be safe. it’s a lot of obstacles. We are going to be isolated. As long as everybody is safe, I’m OK with it. I want to play.”
Robinson, who told Shapiro he has learned to play the piano during this NBA hiatus, said “there’s obviously some mixed reviews in terms of some of the players feeling different types of ways. Personally, I’m very excited about it, having an opportunity to finish what we started.”
Voluntary individual workouts at team facilities will continue through the end of June, but the Heat suspended workouts until Monday after at least two members of the organization tested positive in recent days (forward Derrick Jones Jr. and an unspecified team staffer).
Mandatory individual workouts at team facilities can begin July 1 under controlled conditions.
The Heat will bus to the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando on July 8 and begin training camp there a few days later. Players must isolate for two days in Orlando after arriving.
HASLEM ON BUBBLE
Asked if he plans to play in Orlando, Haslem told ESPN: “Of course I do. I’m the captain. My guys follow me. It’s not the most ideal situation. To sit around and complain about it, it doesn’t do any good.”
On how players will avoid boredom in Orlando, Haslem said the young players “got their video games and the WIFI so I think they’ll be all right. I don’t understand the infatuation of playing with yourself on the video games or playing with somebody else on video games. They do it all the time. I am going to have to be the guy to figure it out.
“Jimmy [Butler] as well. He doesn’t play much golf. No country saloons for him to go dance in” inside the Orlando bubble.
With Vince Carter retiring Thursday, Haslem, at 40, is the NBA’s oldest active player.
Here is my Friday piece with more details on the NBA’s return to play, including concern about rising COVID cases in Florida.
Here’s my Friday Dolphins 6-pack with lots of nuggets.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 7:19 PM.
