The NBA playoff race is coming down to the wire. As for the Heat, here’s the Sun Sentinel:
Despite not wanting to look too far ahead, the Heat (36-31) are well aware of the stakes in their upcoming matchups against the Celtics (35-32) on Sunday and Tuesday at TD Garden.
If the Heat win both games in Boston, they would win the season series against the Celtics, jump three games ahead of Boston in the standings and would give themselves the best chance at avoiding the play-in tournament for seeds seven through 10, with the tournament deciding which teams will occupy the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the playoffs in both conferences.
If the Heat split the matchups in Boston, they would lose the tiebreaker in the standings against the Celtics and put themselves in a tough spot heading into their final three games of the season: versus Philadelphia on Thursday, at Milwaukee on May 15 and at Detroit on May 16.
And via Boston.com:
The Celtics are currently 35-32, as of Saturday, and sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference – one full game behind the sixth-place Miami Heat. They finish the regular season with two pivotal matchups with the Heat and games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and New York Knicks before finding out their fate.
If they beat the Heat twice, they’re suddenly looking at the six-seed, and potentially even the five or four if they keep winning. If they lose twice, they’re almost certainly guaranteed to end up in the play-in, which will take place from May 18-21.
The Knicks are currently 4th in the East, Hawks 4th, Heat 6th, Celtics 7th.
