Miami Heat Climb In This Week's Power Rankings

Dec 29, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) shoots inside against the Houston Rockets during the third quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
Dec 29, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) shoots inside against the Houston Rockets during the third quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images / Erik Williams-Imagn Images
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After three wins this week, the Miami Heat regained a place among the Top 10 teams.

This week, the Heat moved up to No. 9. The team had four games on the schedule this week, three of them on the road. Even with the offense's inefficiency, the Heat closed strong.

In an article posted to NBA.com, a takeaway on the team's play was described by focusing on the team's performance at the end of games. Here's what longtime writer John Schuhmann wrote:

"With ugly offense on both ends of the floor and with the Heat playing at a pretty slow pace, six of their last seven games have been within five points in the last five minutes. The Heat have scored just 42 points on 50 clutch possessions over that stretch, but [Tyler] Herro now leads the league with five buckets to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, having drained the game-winner in Orlando on Thursday."

With a 16-14 record, the Heat sit with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The seventh seed would give the Heat the highest seed in the Play-In Tournament. The Cavaliers, Celtics and Knicks have established themselves as top-tier teams in the East. However, the rest of the conference is up for grabs. The Heat stand two games back from the No. 4 seed Magic and 10.5 games back from the No. 1 seed, held by Cleveland.

Heat star Jimmy Butler is expected to return this week after an illness. The Heat have three games at home, a back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday against the injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers. The week concludes Saturday against the Utah Jazz.

Sean Jordan is a contributor to Miami Heat On Sports Illustrated. He can be reached at sjorda06@syr.edu.

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