The 2023-24 NBA regular season was a bit of a disappointment for the Miami Heat. They finished 46-36, one game behind the Orlando Magic for the Southeast Division title. As a result, they finished in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
That means their road to the postseason will be a difficult one. For the second straight year, the Heat will have to make their way through the NBA Play-In Tournament if they want to make the postseason field.
Last year, they lost the first game of the Play-In to the Atlanta Hawks. That pushed them into a do-or-die game against the Chicago Bulls, where they came away victorious, 102-91. Miami earned the No. 8 seed and the rest was history.
The Heat would go on to defeat the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They defeated the New York Knicks in six games before eliminating the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in seven. In the NBA Finals, they were beaten in five games by the Denver Nuggets.
Miami is certainly capable of going on a run in the playoffs, led by their star player, Jimmy Butler. In a recent edition of SLAM, Butler put the rest of the NBA on notice, sending a warning to the other playoff teams about what is to come.
“It’s the time where people really gotta think about going up against the Miami Heat and myself. I know what I’m capable of; I know what my squad is capable of,” Butler said And nobody wants to see us in a 7-game series, anyway; we know that.”
To get into the field, the Heat’s first opponent will be the Philadelphia 76ers. As the eighth seed, Miami will be heading on a road for a chance to earn the No. 7 seed and a matchup with the Knicks in the first round. It is a game that Butler is excited about.
“That’s a question that I don’t have the answer to. I wish we played better at home. I don’t know. Whenever we get on the road, our back against the wall a little bit,” Butler said. “I guess we get out of our comfort zone, and then we really start making things happen, so I’m actually kind of glad we’re on the road.”
The matchup between the 76ers and the Heat will be a good one. Both teams are talented and full of playoff experience, making them a difficult matchup for whoever they play against should they advance out of the NBA Play-In Tournament and into the postseason field.
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