To define these final four weeks of the Miami Heat’s regular season as a chase for the No. 1 seed would run counter to much preached by Erik Spoelstra.
And, for that matter, the approach of his floor general.
Yes, the Heat headed into Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons at FTX Arena leading the conference race.
And, yes, that would mean homecourt advantage throughout the East playoffs.
But Spoelstra also has to balance the realities of an older rotation, the need to sort through an everchanging mix of available players, and, potentially — not that the team would dare admit publicly as much — playoff matchups.
“It’s more about trying to get to a better level than where we are right now,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat 4-3 in their previous seven going into the matchup with the Pistons. “And I think it’s always good to learn how to win games, even in this last stretch. So wherever that puts you, you’ll be where you are at the end of the year.
“But I think if you build that habit of competing at a high level, finding solutions and learning how to win, and learning how to win in different ways and going through shared adversity collectively and figuring it out, I think is always important.”
But so is appreciating that Kyle Lowry, the Heat’s starting point guard, is 35, and P.J. Tucker, the Heat’s starting power forward, is 36.
To Lowry, figuring out who you are as a team and knowing what will work best under playoff pressure matters as much as seeding.
“I think throughout my career I’ve figured it out,” he said. “I don’t think it was like one point where it was like, ‘Oh, this that and the other things.’ Because I’ve been in the regular season and I’ve gotten the one seed and gotten swept, gotten the two seed, and gotten swept. So I just know the regular season is one of those times you’re going to have some ups, you’re going to have some downs, but you just kind of ride the wave and just understand that when it comes down to it, your team is on the same page when you need to be.”
So if the Heat path leads to the No. 1 seed, all the better, Lowry said. But if there are hiccups, no panic about something less.
“So don’t get too up, too down,” he said, with his Toronto Raptors winning the 2019 NBA championship from the No. 2 seed in the East. “Games happen. Wins and losses happen. And you just move on.”
Through the team’s previous 33 seasons, the Heat have run the gamut with their three No. 1 conference seeds, eliminated in what then was a best-of-five first round in 1999 to the New York Knicks, losing in the 2005 Eastern Conference finals to the Detroit Pistons, and winning the second of two Big Three championships with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2013.
The No. 2 seed has been the franchise’s most frequent seed, four times resulting in appearances in the NBA Finals, one trip to the Eastern Conference finals, a loss in the East semis and a first-round elimination during another of those heartbreaking playoff series against the Knicks.
There also have been two trips apiece from the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, in each case once losing in the first round and once losing in the second round.
Spoelstra said it is not as if there will be anything dissuading victory.
Not with this roster.
“We have a really competitive group,” he said. “So it’s more about trying to win and trying to beat teams and beat the competition. And that can be a great added benefit of securing the No. 1 seed. But we’ll see what happens.”
Miami Heat playoff finish by seed
No. 1 seed
1999: Eliminated in first round.
2005: Eliminated in Eastern Conference finals.
2013: Won NBA Finals.
No. 2 seed
1997: Eliminated in Eastern Conference finals.
1998: Eliminated in first round.
2000: Eliminated in Eastern Conference semifinals.
2006: Won NBA Finals.
2011: Lost NBA Finals.
2012: Won NBA Finals.
2014: Lost NBA Finals.
No. 3 seed
2001: Eliminated in first round.
2016: Eliminated in Eastern Conference semifinals.
No. 4 seed
2004: Eliminated in Eastern Conference semifinals.
2007: Eliminated in first round.
No. 5 seed
2009: Eliminated in first round.
2010: Eliminated in first round.
2020: Lost NBA Finals.
No. 6 seed
2018: Eliminated in first round.
2021: Eliminated in first round.
No. 7 seed
Never finished as No. 7 seed.
No. 8 seed
1992: Eliminated in first round.
1994: Eliminated in first round.
1996: Eliminated in first round.
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