National Media Jumping Aboard The Miami Heat Wagon Of Earning No. 4 Seed
The Miami Heat spent most of the season outside of the limelight.
That has changed after winning eight of 10, including a four-game winning streak. Suddenly, the Heat are once again contenders after defeating the Sacramento Kings Monday despite playing without starters Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro and a few other key rotation players.
The Heat are No. 6 in the Eastern Conference standings but some in the national media are already thinking they could move up. On Tuesday's episode of NBA Today, analysts Zach Lowe and Richard Jefferson said they feel the Heat could finish high as fourth.
"Never doubt the Heat, never ever doubt the Heat," Lowe said. "They're always lurking and now they're doing more than lurking. They have the second-easiest schedule in the NBA left. We could wake up at the end of the season, they could be the four seed ... They're not scared of anybody."
The Heat are starting to hit their stride while opponents are in the middle of rough patches. The Philadelphia 76ers are 4-7 since Joel Embiid was injured. The Knicks have uncertainty surrounding the health status of Julius Randle. The Cleveland Cavaliers lack experience while the Heat have already proven they defeat the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in the playoffs.
"This is a team that has been to two NBA Finals in the last five seasons," Jefferson said. "Let's make no mistake, they have one of the great coaches [Erik Spoelstra]. They are doing everything right. So when I look at them and that the two teams above them are dealing with injuries, we're not sure of Randle, we're not sure of Embiid, they're trending downward. Miami Heat, they have one of the easier schedules. They're getting healthy. They're trending upward ... They don't fear anyone. I guarantee there are a lot of teams that will be positioning themselves not to play them."
Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat, a Fan Nation channel for Sports Illustrated. He has covered the NBA since 2010.
TWITTER: @ShandelRich
Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here
For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com
