12 more to the playoffs
Every Heat game is vital and eight of the last dozen are at home
Attempt to engage Erik Spoelstra in a conversation of how these final 12 games will have the Miami Heat in the thick of the playoff race and he’ll shoot you a look as if asking where you have been.
“That’s the way we feel we’ve be in for six weeks,” he said.
Spoelstra gave his team the weekend off in the wake of the team’s final extended trip of the season, a three-game western swing that produced compelling basketball, but only a victory in the finale, Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
But it is off that high note that the Heat return today to AmericanAirlines Arena against the Denver Nuggets to begin a twogame homestand, with eight of the Heat’s final 12 games at home.
“Every game has playoff implications for us. It’s huge,” center Kelly Olynyk said of the home run. “We have to take every game like it’s a playoff game and we have a few in a row now at home. So we’ve really got to take care of business.”
The Heat enter tonight on a four-game home winning streak, a run that included compelling playoff-race victories over the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards.
The remaining competition will represent a step up in class during portions of the closing schedule, which still includes the two-game home-and-home season series
against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at a stage when they are expected to have Kevin Love back, and the season finale against the visiting Toronto Raptors.
“It’s a dogfight,” forward James Johnson said “It’s been like that the whole time. But I think we’re comfortable in that situation. A lot of these clutch games, close games are just preparing us for what’s to come.”
Johnson also made it clear the Heat are not settling, even as they have distanced themselves from the Detroit Pistons for a final Eastern Conference playoff seed. Instead, he’s looking up. “That’s been there for us,” he said. “When we were in four, we wanted more. At seven we’re not settling, eight, we’re not settling. We want to be the best team we can possibly be at the end of this season and go from there.”
As has become a theme for Spoelstra-coaching teams, it’s almost as if the Heat are approaching the balance of the schedule as 12 one-game seasons.
“The next game, against Denver, is going to be a really important game because we’re playing at home,” guard Goran Dragic said. “We need to get those.”
As challenging as the western swing was, with losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings, the next trip, starting Friday, puts the Heat in Oklahoma City and then Indiana, where the Pacers have ascended to unexpected heights.
But center Bam Adebayo said what Friday’s victory over the Lakers did was ease the concern about what had been a nine-game road losing streak.
“It was a dry spell,” he said. “We’re getting back into our groove now. It feels good to be back on the right track and we’re going to try to continue it.” The ongoing theme for the Heat has been Spoelstra’s “muscle of resilience.”
Olynyk said the Heat remain anxious to flex.
“The one thing we know is we’re in all these games and it’s going to give us experience,” he said of so many recent close finishes, including three overtime losses. “We’ve been in these situations before. When the time comes, we have to exercise that muscle and capitalize on that.”
Starting with tonight’s bid to avenge an early-season loss in Denver.
“This is the time to do it, too,” Olynyk said of making home statements, “heading into the postseason. You want to make sure you protect the home floor and make sure nobody can come in and get one off us.”