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Heat Draw Historic Matchup in First Round of NBA Playoffs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jack Meyer | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 11:12 PM ET

Following a roller coaster of a 2024-25 season, the Miami Heat are officially in for this year’s NBA playoffs - and they’ll be making some history of their own, as they face one of their renowned Eastern Conference foes for the first time in franchise history.

The No. 8 seed Heat will face off against the No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of this year’s postseason. Despite the shared history between these two squads that includes the defection of one of the greatest players in NBA history, Miami and Cleveland have never met in the NBA playoffs - until now.

The Heat’s notable history with the Cavaliers dates back to 2010, when LeBron James ditched his hometown of Cleveland to join fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh down in South Beach.

Despite the two squads never meeting in the postseason, tensions have simmered between Miami and Cleveland since then, even after James went back to the Cavaliers in 2014 and led them to their first NBA title in franchise history.

The tale of the tape between these two squads is as skewed as they come. Cleveland finished atop the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 record, while Miami squeezed into the playoffs with a 37-45 record following back-to-back road wins in the play-in.

However, if any team can pull off a miracle to knock off the top-seeded Cavs, it’s the Heat. Just two years ago, Miami entered the playoffs as an eight-seed before advancing to the NBA Finals, knocking off the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks and No. 2 Boston Celtics along the way. Only time will tell if there’s more upset magic in store down in South Florida this time around.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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