Standings boost competition
As calendar turns, Heat scramble for playoff positioning
MIAMI — Goran Dragic has been here before, more recently than he cares to remember, and thought he had escaped.
In 2013-14, his Phoenix Suns finished with 48 victories and found themselves on the outside looking in, coming up a game short of a playoff berth.
Such was life in the Western Conference.
Such has become life in the Eastern Conference.
“You learn that every game counts,” Dragic said, now caught in the Miami Heat’s scramble for playoff positioning, “Unfortunately, it happened to me in Phoenix, the worst-case scenario. You lose two in a row the last few games and we were out of the playoffs.
“If the standings are going to stay like that, be like this, we cannot afford to lose the games on paper we should win.”
Rarely do NBA players talk about the standings until the middle of the season, if even then. But this season, the East standings not only stand as a testament to the conference’s increased level of competition, but to the competition itself, with Cleveland at the top, Philadelphia and Brooklyn at the bottom and everyone else clumped in the middle.
“I think in the entire East, it hasn’t been like this since I’ve been in the league,” guard Dwyane Wade said. “It’s different. It’s cool. You want to see where you’re at. Normally, I wait for a long time before I even care to look. But the thing right now, you have to. You have to know where you’re at. You have to know what other teams are doing.”
Of course, it depends on what day you look. For a brief moment on Monday night, before they lost to the Brooklyn Nets, the Heat were in second place in the East. A day later, after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies, they were in eighth.
“You win two in a row, you’re in second place; you lose one, you’re in eighth place,” forward Chris Bosh said. “And that matters, that matters right now. It’s jumbled up, but it’s exciting. I think it’s exciting for everybody. It gives each game meaning.
“And in an 82-game season, isn’t that what people want? So we have it. And I’m sure it’s going to be a photo finish at the end.”
Teams generally have standings boards in their locker rooms. These days, those magnetic boards are being updated as frequently as gas-station price signs.
“Spo talks about the standings,” Bosh said of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “He’s been talking about it since like the first week. So we’re aware of where we are. And you kind of have to be, especially against those that you know you have to beat.”
The congested standings essentially make every conference game count double, including the backto-back set for the Heat that opens Sunday on the road against the Washington Wizards and concludes Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena against the Indiana Pacers.
“These games are important,” Wade said. “Obviously it’s easy to say every game is important. All should be important, right? Obviously these games are important.”
Important games in January. Welcome to the new NBA East.
“Yeah, it’s like the Western Conference. It’s competitive,” Bosh said. “I think that’s a great thing for the fans. Usually, about now until All-Star break you know there will be separation. So we have to have some urgency with that. But, yeah, I’ve never seen it like this with winning records.”
Dragic has been here, when a stellar record in the Western Conference came with no guarantees. If nothing else, he said it creates a season-long requirement for improvement.
“Of course, I’d rather have an easier path,” he said, “but it doesn’t matter. We’re all professionals. It’s good. It challenges your character, your self, your team, the people you’re around, to try to figure out those things together.”