The play-in-bound Miami Heat will look to close their regular season on the right note Sunday afternoon, as they host a Washington Wizards team that seemingly has an incentive to lose.
Miami (37-44) enters Sunday’s contest locked into the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat trail the Chicago Bulls by just one game, but even if they were to make up the difference with a win and a Bulls’ loss on Sunday, Chicago would still own the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series.
It won’t be easy for the Heat in Wednesday’s play-in matchup at Chicago: The Bulls have won all three matchups against them this season, including a 119-111 decision on Wednesday.
“Hey man, it’s win or go home,” Bam Adebayo said. “It’s like the NCAA Tournament. Anything can happen. We’ve seen teams in the tournament that got swept in the regular season, and you get that one shining moment and it’s a turnaround. We’ve seen this season turn around through the ups and downs, so I always keep that in the back of my mind. Anything can happen.”
The Heat are coming off a dominant 153-104 win over the Pelicans on Friday night. Adebayo led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds, making 8-of-12 attempts from the field in only 22 minutes of action. Tyler Herro added 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Duncan Robinson added 21 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
Herro has been the catalyst of Miami’s offense all season, pacing the Heat with a career-high 23.9 points while also leading the team with 5.5 assists per game.
Adebayo has been his usual self, averaging 18.1 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds while being the team’s defensive anchor. Andrew Wiggins also has been a boost offensively since arriving in February as a part of the Jimmy Butler trade, with an average of 19 points per game in 17 appearances with the Heat.
Washington (17-64) is in a much different boat. The Wizards are tied with the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the NBA with one game remaining. If Washington loses on Sunday and the Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Wizards would secure the best odds for May’s NBA draft lottery. If both teams lose (or win), the top odds for the lottery will be determined by coin toss.
Jordan Poole is the Wizards’ main offensive option, averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game on 43.2 percent shooting while also dishing out 4.5 assists. Washington also receives a sizable contribution from rookie Alex Sarr. The No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft is second on the Wizards’ active roster in scoring, averaging 13 points to go with 6.5 rebounds per game.
“We have progressed,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said. “We have played better since really the post-All-Star break. This young group is improving before our eyes, week to week, month to month, but we still have a long way to go. We know that, and we still have two more games to go so we’re not there yet.”
–Field Level Media
