Podcast: Breaking down an important Heat win, what it means for Miami’s playoff fortunes
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The Miami Heat might not be dead yet.
After a massive win against the New York Knicks on Wednesday, the Heat is back in a virtual tie with the Brooklyn Nets for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and might escape the play-in after all.
David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer, offer up their instant reactions to Miami’s latest win, as well as the latest on the postseason race on a new episode of the Heat Check podcast.
The most encouraging sign from the Heat’s win in Miami: It wasn’t all about Jimmy Butler.
Even though the star forward scored 35 points and had nine assists, the Heat got contributions from all over the roster. Tyler Herro came up huge in the fourth quarter with 14 points. Fellow guards Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry combined for 35 points while splitting up the minutes at point guard. The Heat shot 57.1 percent from three-point range and is now up to 39.9 percent across its last 11 games.
With one last game coming up against the Nets on Saturday at Miami-Dade Arena, the Heat can potentially seize control of its own playoff destiny this weekend. If Miami can again play like it did Wednesday, it’ll have a real chance to stay out of the little-margin-for-error play-in round at the start of the 2023 NBA playoffs next month.
The Heat is also making some changes to its rotation late in the year, almost entirely cutting wing Victor Oladipo’s minutes since Lowry returned from an injury two weeks ago. Is Erik Spoelstra going to stick with this change once the NBA playoffs arrive? The coach has proven in his career he’s willing to make big changes at a moment’s notice, sometimes even in the middle of a series, so Oladipo might not be totally done, even if Miami is better off without him right now.
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