Heat close regular season with rout of Hawks, with Hornets up next in play-in
MIAMI — No, not something you necessarily shout loud and proud. But for the Miami Heat, it is what resonates after the regular season for a second consecutive year: We’re No. 10.
And that they are, off to Charlotte for a play-in game against the Hornets, with the loser finished for the season and the winner going on the road for an all-or-nothing Friday night road play-in game. Sunday night’s ...
MIAMI — No, not something you necessarily shout loud and proud. But for the Miami Heat, it is what resonates after the regular season for a second consecutive year: We’re No. 10.
And that they are, off to Charlotte for a play-in game against the Hornets, with the loser finished for the season and the winner going on the road for an all-or-nothing Friday night road play-in game. Sunday night’s 143-117 victory at Kaseya Center over the disinterested Atlanta Hawks gave the Heat a 43-39 closing record, a six-game improvement over last season, when they also finished No. 10 in the Eastern Conference, But the result otherwise was largely moot, with the Hornets’ Sunday victory in New York securing the No.
9 seed and the right to host the Heat. Had the Hornets lost that game, the Heat, with their victory, would have hosted the Nos. 9-10 play-in game.