After a wild weekend for the eastern conference the Miami Heat are in great position to make the playoffs. The Heat were briefly in playoff position over the weekend, but were quickly knocked back down after wins by the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks.
There are only 12 games remaining in the regular season, and these three teams are jostling for playoff position. Time is running out for the Heat and they need to win in order get back to the 7th or 8th seed.
They can put pressure on the Bucks and the Pistons if they win games. As the season comes to a close the Heat might need help with a couple of losses from the teams ahead of them.
In a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves the Heat would come away with a 123-105 win. This win put the Heat in the 7th spot in the eastern conference momentarily. The Heat had a lot of help from their bench in this win.
Tyler Johnson would score 23 points off the bench, and James Johnson would contribute 17 points and 6 assists in the win. Starters Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside would both have double-doubles in the game.
Dragic would score 19 points and dish out 10 assists. Whiteside would score 23 points and grab 14 rebounds. Their playoff position would be short lived after their game against the Trail Blazers.
In their matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers the Heat would fall 115-104. This loss would bounce them right back out of a playoff spot. The Trail Blazers would only score 14 points off the bench, but the starters would have huge games.
Damian Lillard would score 49 points. Three other starters would be in double figures and that would prove to be too much to handle for the Heat.
James Johnson would be the high scorer in the game for the Heat, scoring 24 points off the bench. Whiteside would also have a big game scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Heat would play against the Phoenix Suns and win 112-97. This win put them back in the playoff picture at the 8th seed.
Whiteside would have a big game, and also break a team record for most rebounds in a single season. He would finish the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Tyler Johnson would have a big game off the bench being the second highest scorer with 17 points. The Heat bench played a big role in this game having 4 players in double figures. The Suns were hurt by the 3-pointer in this game only making 25% of them for the game.
In their game against the Toronto Raptors the Heat would lose 101-84. Both teams shot poorly from downtown. They both shot 26.1% from that range, but the Heat had a poor shooting night in the paint as well.
They would shoot 39% from the field. The Heat had trouble containing DeMar DeRozan who went off for 40 points. Some Heat players went scoreless in this game such as Luke Babbit, Wayne Ellington, and Okaro White.
Combined all three players saw 30 minutes of playing time. That hurt the Heat, but they are able to stay in the 8th seed in the eastern conference because of a loss by Detroit.