Is NBA tiebreaker that kept Heat out of playoffs unfair?
Riley criticizes formula that gave Bulls final berth.
MIAMI — The Miami Heat were so close to making the playoffs. How close?
Replace one of the Heat’s two losses against the Chicago Bulls with a win, and the Heat would be playing in the first round of the playoffs right now. Miami missed the postseason by one game, as Chicago took the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot despite having the same 41-41 record because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
A head-to-head tiebreaker that Heat president Pat Riley believes is “ridiculous.”
The Bulls and Dwyane Wade won the season series 2-1 over the Heat to clinch the playoff spot, but two of the three games were played in Chicago, and just one was played in Miami.
“We should have had two games in Miami against Chicago,” Riley said Wednesday. “That’s ridiculous. It should have been a 2-2 tiebreaker. So make that point. If we played two here, maybe we’d be in the playoffs.”
Riley does have a point: A head-to-head tiebreaker that includes two games in Chicago and just one game in Miami seems unfair to the Heat.
But it’s important to note the Heat did lose their only home game against the Bulls this season 98-95 on Nov. 10. However, it’s also important to note that both losses against the Bulls came within t he f i r s t 2 4 g a mes when Miami was struggling on its way to an 11-30 record over the first half of the season.
Now, eighth-seeded Chicago is leading its first-round series against top-seeded Boston 2-0 heading into tonight’s Game 3. And the Heat’s sea- son is over.
“We were so different in that second half,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “If we were able to play Chicago at any point later in the season rather than those first two times, maybe we would have had the tiebreaker there.”
Fizdale has “Heat DNA in him”: Pat Riley is “proud” of Memphis coach David Fizdale, not just for taking his team to the playoffs in his first season as a head coach, but for protecting his players by standing up to the officials Monday following the Grizzlies’ loss to San Antonio in Game 2 of their opening-round series.
Fizdale, who spent eight seasons as an assistant to Spoelstra before landing the Memphis job before this season, blasted the refs after a 96-82 loss that gave the Spurs a 2-0 lead in the series.
Riley said Fizdale showed he has “some Heat DNA” in him.
“I was proud of what Dave Fizdale did, being a former coach here,” Riley said. “He went in and fought for his players, fought for his city. I think everything he had to say had truth to it, real truth to it, and he took a hit for it.
“Every now and then, that comes out of Erik, that’s what a coach feels at that time. I’m glad he’s got some Heat DNA in him.”
“It was a very poorly officiated game,” Fizdale said bef ore c i t i ng s t a t s a bout the free-throw discrepancy, specifically how San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard had 19 attempts (the Grizzlies shot 15 as a team) and how the Grizzlies had 35 shots in the paint with just 15 free throws, and the Spurs had 18 attempts in the paint with 32 free throws.
“T h a t w a s u n a c c e p t - able,” Fizdale said. “That was unprofessional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game, and they did not even give us a chance.”
Fizdale ended his news conference by saying, “Take that for data!” slamming his hand on the table and storming out.
The rant cost Fizdale a $30,000 fine, though Memphis guard Mike Conley said the players will take up a collection to reimburse their coach.