Ever since the NBA trade deadline came and went on Feb. 6, the Miami Heat have struggled to find the win column. The Heat have played 15 games since the deadline and have lost all but four of those contests.
Miami is also on the longest current losing streak of any team in the Eastern Conference at four games. The Heat’s most recent victory came over the Washington Wizards on March 3. The Wizards own the NBA’s worst record at the moment.
Despite the fact that the Heat have struggled and are now six games below .500, Miami is reportedly “not tanking intentionally.”
It’s important to note that a top-six seed and guaranteed playoff spot might be out of the team’s reach, as the Heat are 6.5 games back of the No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons.
However, the Heat are still in the play-in picture at this juncture, a possible testament to a lack of parity in the Eastern Conference, at least compared to the West, where a whopping 10 teams have records of .500 or better.
Miami currently sits as the No. 9 seed in the East with a record of 29-35 on the season. Reaching as high as the No. 7 seed (a spot the team is currently 1.5 games behind) is a realistic goal.
The Heat should have plenty of opportunities to grab some wins before the season comes to a close. They are a whopping 64 games through the regular season but have one of the easiest remaining schedules of any team in the league.
The combined winning percentage of Miami’s opponents for the remainder of the campaign is just .485, and only six teams have easier schedules the rest of the way by that measure. The only problem there is that some of the teams near the Heat in the standings also have easy schedules from here.
While Miami does have some tough matchups coming up, the end of the team’s 82-game slate is especially full of winnable games. The Heat will play their last four games against the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and Wizards.
Whether or not the Heat will make the playoffs remains to be seen, but they evidently aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
