The Miami Heat made a surprise run to the NBA Finals last season as the eight seed. They could find themselves in a similar predicament entering this year’s playoffs as they are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. They have dealt with a bunch of injuries, but Kevin Love is expected to return Friday.
Miami has a home game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Following that is a road game on Sunday against the lowly Washington Wizards. The Heat should be heavily favored in both contests, and they are hoping to see Love contribute.
Love has missed the previous 14 games with a heel injury. Miami went 6-8 in his absence. A strong finish is needed to not have to take part in the Play-In Tournament for the second straight season.
Heat Key Reserve Likely Back After Missing a Month
How Love Has Fared This Season
The 35-year-old Kevin Love is now being listed as probable for Friday’s game. He has not appeared on the court since February 27.
Now in his 16th season, Love obviously isn’t the player he was in his prime. He has been named to five All-Star teams, was the third-best player on a championship Cleveland Cavaliers team (behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving), and won the rebounding title in 2010-11.
Love still played a large role in helping the Heat reach the NBA Finals last season. He started 17 of his 21 regular season appearances after joining the team last season. Love was also in the starting lineup for 18 of his 20 postseason outings.
This season, the two-time All-NBA player has mostly been utilized off the bench. He has appeared in 47 games with just five coming as a starter. In 17.5 minutes per outing, Love has averaged 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He has attempted 4.5 threes per game, connecting on 34.9% of them.
For his career, Love has averaged 16.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. He has made 36.9% of his three-point tries.
Love and the Heat are Trying to Avoid the Play-In Tournament
At 39-33, the Heat have just 10 regular season games remaining. As already mentioned, they currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. A top-six seed is needed to avoid the Play-In Tournament which houses seeds 7-10.
Miami is just a game back of the Indiana Pacers for that coveted sixth seed. The two teams are even in the loss column as the Pacers have played two more games. They will match up on April 7th in Indiana, a game that could potentially decide who avoids the Play-In Tournament. Miami and Indiana have split their first two meetings, so the winner will own the tiebreaker.
Miami is also just a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers who occupy the eighth seed. The seventh seed notably gets home court in their Play-In Tournament matchup with the eighth seed.
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