As his team finishes decompressing amid this weeklong All-Star break, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra appreciates that it soon will be time to recompress.
“We’ll buckle down,” he said, “and get serious.”
It’s not as if his team has much of a choice.
The way the Eastern Conference playoff race stands, particularly at the top of the standings, the 23 games that remain for the Heat each will come with particular meaning, be it playoff seeding, tiebreakers or even ones against lottery competition that simply can’t slip away.
“We know how competitive it is,” Spoelstra said. “And we have a bunch of hard-nose, competitive guys in our locker room, they thrive and want these kinds of situations and compelling matchups.”
Of the compelling, there will be plenty, including two apiece left on the schedule against the Chicago Bulls, who stand tied with the Heat atop the East, as well as two apiece against the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets. Factor in the single remaining games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, and almost half the Heat’s remaining games will be potential tiebreaker showdowns.
The first seeding tiebreaker is head-to-head results. But the second is winning a division, with the Heat just about on the verge of clinching the Southeast, 9 1/2 games up on both the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks.
And if the tiebreakers go to a third level, which they well could, with the top five teams separated by a mere 2 1/2 games, the Heat are well positioned there, with the East’s best record against conference competition.
As for the remaining schedule of the eight East teams with winning records, the Heat, essentially hold homecourt advantage for the rest of the regular season, with 15 remaining games at FTX Arena and only eight remaining on the road. The closest team to that seven-game spread among the eight in the conference with winning records is the Cleveland Cavaliers, with four more remaining home games than road games.
But there also are scheduling challenges for Spoelstra’s team, with five remaining back-to-back sets. Of the current top eight in the East, only the Raptors, with six, have more.
The playoff race resumes Thursday, as the NBA returns from its hiatus, with the Heat resuming Friday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
As for what remains and how it impacts the playoff race, a breakdown of the Eastern Conference stretch run:
Home/road remaining
1. Heat (38-21): 15 home, 8 away.
2. Bulls (38-21): 10 home, 13 away.
3. 76ers (35-23): 12 home, 12 away.
4. Cavaliers (35-23): 14 home, 10 away.
5. Bucks (36-24): 10 home, 12 away.
6. Celtics (34-26): 10 home, 12 away.
7. Raptors (32-25): 12 home, 13 away.
8. Nets (31-28): 13 home, 10 away.
Remaining vs. +.500/-.500
1. Heat: 13 vs. winning, 10 vs. losing.
2. Bulls: 14 vs. winning, 9 vs. losing.
3. 76ers: 14 vs. winning, 10 vs. losing.
4. Cavaliers: 13 vs. winning, 11 vs. losing.
5. Bucks: 15 vs. winning, 7 vs. losing.
6. Celtics: 13 vs. winning, 9 vs. losing.
7. Raptors: 12 vs. winning, 13 vs. losing.
8. Nets: 13 vs. winning. 10 vs. losing.
Back-to-back sets remaining
1. Heat: 5.
2. Bulls: 3
3. 76ers: 5.
4. Cavaliers: 4
5. Bucks: 3.
6. Celtics: 4.
7. Raptors: 6.
8. Nets: 4.
Remaining vs. Lottery Five
(Vs. teams with no legitimate playoff/play-in hopes, already looking toward lottery.)
1. Heat: 4 (Rockets, Pistons, Thunder, Magic).
2. Bulls: 1 (Pistons).
3. 76ers: 5 (Magic, Pistons twice, Pacers twice).
4. Cavaliers: 5 (Pacers, Pistons twice, Magic twice).
5. Bucks: 1 (Pistons).
6. Celtics: 5 (Thunder, Pistons twice, Pacers twice).
7. Raptors: 5 (Pistons, Pacers, Rockets, Magic twice).
8. Nets: 4 (Magic, Pistons, Rockets, Pacers).
Heat head-to-head tiebreaker
1. Heat: —.
2. Bulls: 2-0, with two games remaining.
3. 76ers: 1-1, with two games remaining.
4. Cavaliers: 0-2, with one game remaining.
5. Bucks: 2-1, with one game remaining.
6. Celtics: 0-2, with one game remaining.
7. Raptors: 1-2, with one game remaining.
8. Nets: 2-0, with two games remaining.
Conference-record tiebreaker
(Third tiebreaker, after head-to-head, division champion.)
1. Heat: 24-12.
2. Bulls: 23-13.
3. 76ers: 20-14.
4. Cavaliers: 20-13.
5. Bucks: 22-17.
6. Celtics: 24-15.
7. Raptors: 21-14.
8. Nets: 21-13.
