The Miami Heat Drop Their Fifth Straight Game Against Playoff Teams
The Miami Heat’s latest loss made it five straight defeats to playoff-caliber teams.
The Heat fell 98-91 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. The two teams entered the night with the same 37-30 record, but the Heat held the higher seed due to a 2-0 head-to-head record.
Monday’s loss drops the Heat down to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The recent slide down the standings shouldn’t come as a surprise, either.
The losses have not been pretty. The Heat shot just 39.3 percent from the field against the 76ers. They had come off back-to-back victories against the bottom-feeding Detroit Pistons entering Monday’s game.
Those two wins broke a tough stretch of losses for the Heat. The team scored just 88 points in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Heat also fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks during the first week of March. The Heat’s last win against a playoff team came back on Feb. 26 against the Sacramento Kings.
The Heat’s recent inability to win important regular season games and poor positioning in the playoff race leaves reasons for concern. The Heat could possibly face either the Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. They are 1-5 combined against those two teams this year.
There is hope, though, for the Heat. Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, and Nikola Jovic are all expected to return to the lineup soon. Tyler Herro also could rejoin the rotation before the end of the season.
The Heat’s schedule gets tougher from here. They play the Cleveland Cavaliers next on Wednesday.
Casey Fahrer is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at caseyfahrer716@gmail.com.
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