MIAMI – With the Miami Heat facing Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament, the team is looking to add themselves to the record books as a victory Wednesday night would be the first step. As the Heat finished with the 10th seed, star Tyler Herro spoke confidently about the rough path to the playoffs which includes winning two straight road games.
Miami has the opportunity this postseason to do something that hasn’t been done before in NBA Play-In Tournament history, which is making the playoffs as the tenth seed. As mentioned before, the team would have to win two consecutive games on the road which includes Wednesday against Chicago and then the winner of the Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks contest on Tuesday night.
For Herro, he would have an emphatic response for the challenge the Heat faces, even saying to ClutchPoints after Tuesday’s practice they are “excited” for the opportunity.
“Hell yeah, we’re excited for this challenge,” Herro said. “We dropped those 10 games, and it kind of, our path became more clear. You know, as that happened, but we still are in the saddle. We haven’t let go of the rope, and we’re excited for this challenge.”
Heat “feel alive” with a win or go-home game in the play-in tournament
With the Heat preparing for a hopeful playoff run, history doesn’t favor them for a few reasons with one already said of a tenth seed not getting through the play-in tournament. The other is Miami losing all three contests to Chicago during the regular season as their pace has displayed an equation the Heat need to solve.
It’ll be up to Herro and Bam Adebayo to lead the team through no man’s land as both look on the bright side in regards to their current situation.
“It just ultimate clarity, you’re not looking at the standings no more,” Adebayo said. “You’re not trying to see if they lose, if we win. You got to win two road games to punch our ticket.”
While the Heat didn’t envision themselves finishing in the tenth seed, this time of the year with meaningful basketball makes some “feel alive” as head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“It makes you feel alive that’s for damn sure,” Spoelstra said Tuesday. “It raises the stakes again, I’ve mentioned it, our locker doesn’t feel this way, but certainly on the outside, you can think ‘The 9 playing the 10, what does that mean?’ Well, it means a lot. We have an opportunity to win. Gets closer to another game, ideally, get another win to get in this party, but it’s going to be competitive. That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing, to see if it can bring a higher level.”
