Inside The Heat

Many Feel Miami Heat Expected To Have Short-Lived NBA Postseason

Shandel Richardson|
Apr 16, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gestures to his team against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
Apr 16, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gestures to his team against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Miami HeatCleveland Cavaliers

The Miami Heat are huge underdogs against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The top-seeded Cavaliers are the favorite in every sportsbook despite the No. 8 Heat winning two road games against the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks during the Play-In Tournament. Yahoo! Sports went far as saying the Cavs, led by Donovan Mitchell, will defeat the Heat in five games.

Here's what the Yahoo! article stated: "The Heat have done commendable work to pull out of their post-Jimmy-trade tailspin and win two play-in games on the road to make the postseason proper. When it comes to lining them up against this Cavs team, though, all that commendable work will buy them is a gentleman’s sweep."

This is the Heat's third straight postseason appearance as the No. 8 seed. Last year they were defeated by the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the first round. In 2023, the Heat made it to the NBA Finals. They joined the 1999 New York Knicks as the only eighth seed to make the Finals before losing to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in five games.

It should be noted the Heat are the more experienced of the teams. This is their franchise-record sixth straight appearance in the playoffs.

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here