ATLANTA – With Thursday’s flight from Chicago to Atlanta, the Miami Heat are halfway home. And yet, the last thing they want to see is the next step of this trip going south.
To a man, the overwhelming sentiment in the locker room following Wednesday night’s 109-90 play-in victory over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center was that their work was only half done.
Amid the most trying of seasons, from the contretemps with Jimmy Butler to a late-season 10-game losing streak, this season has been one packed with added challenges. The play-in round stands no different.
Unlike the Heat’s previous two trips to the NBA pre-playoff tournament, the Heat entered Wednesday night’s play-in game with no safety net, no ability to lose once in the round and still advance to the first round of the playoffs. Such is the reality from a 37-45, 10th-place season.
So unless there also is a victory Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, the Heat will be headed south literally and figuratively, a loss ending the team’s five-year playoff streak and dumping them back into the draft lottery for the first time since 2019.
Against that backdrop, the music stopped early in the locker room after Wednesday night’s resounding victory and there wasn’t a mention of a best-of-seven opening-round playoff series against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers if there is a victory Friday night at the close of the play-in round.
“We’re only halfway there,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have the luxury of having the one game then you’re automatically in. The guys feel great about this win, really put a lot into this. This is not something that can just happen overnight. We feel like there’s been some good things happening the last several weeks. And this is the first time we’ve been mostly whole in a while, where guys feel good.”
Having exorcized the demons of the 0-3 regular-season series against the Bulls, it is now on to an opponent the Heat went 2-2 against during the regular season.
“We’re only halfway there,” Spoelstra reiterated, “so we’ve got to recalibrate and get to our prep pretty quickly and get on to Atlanta.”
Against the Bulls, the Heat set the tone. Nothing less is the desire against the Hawks.
“We imposed a will defensively and competitively, on the glass, loose balls, things of that nature,” Spoelstra said of the victory in Chicago. “Those will remain true as we get to Atlanta. There will be some different specifics to their team and we’ll just have to get to it.”
The major difference, as with all games against the Hawks, is ignitable guard Trae Young, who averaged 24.2 points during the regular season.
“Obviously you all know Trae Young is the head of the snake,” center Bam Adebayo said. “So it’ll be really him and then we’ll figure everything else.”
The Heat largely handled Young over the course of the season series, limiting him to 17 points on .350 shooting in the season’s four meetings. But Young also proved to be daunting as a playmaker, with 49 assists over the four games.
“We know who the main guy is, try to slow him down,” guard Davion Mitchell said. “We know we’re not going to hold him to zero points, but try to slow him down, make him take tough shots, make him see different looks from different players and keep going from there.”
In other words, try to do to him what the Heat did to the Bulls, which included limiting Chicago guard Coby White to 5-of-20 shooting.
Forward Andrew Wiggins was among those who defended White on Wednesday night. Now the challenge is on to Young.
“Same thing, help one another, be in the gaps,” Wiggins said of Young. “We know who the main guy is try to slow him down. We know we’re not going to hold him to zero points, but try to slow him down, make him make tough shots, make him see different looks from different players and keep going from there.”
Flying through Atlanta from Chicago is hardly a unique itinerary. Flying from Chicago to Atlanta and then heading back up to Cleveland is.
And now that would be the itinerary of choice, even if it means the challenge of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and good friend Max Strus, with the series against the East-best Cavaliers starting at 7 p.m. Sunday at Rocket Arena for the winner of Friday night’s last-chance play-in game.
“Job’s not finished, obviously,” said guard Tyler Herro, who led the Heat on Wednesday night with 38 points. “We knew what our path was. It’s going to take two wins on the road, which we’re capable of.
“We’re excited for this challenge going into Atlanta. We’ve just got to keep that same focus,”