Heat return to practice, wait for Playoff opponent

Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat look on against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half at FTX Arena on March 11, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) (Michael Reaves, 2022 Michael Reaves)

MIAMI – The Miami Heat are preparing for the Playoffs, even though they won’t know their opponent until Friday night.

The Heat do know that they will not be facing the Brooklyn Nets, who won the Play-In game and will face the Boston Celtics in the First Round.

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As of Wednesday’s practice, the Heat will either face Cleveland, Atlanta, or Charlotte.

The league released the team’s playoff schedule.

Round 1 will begin on Sunday at FTX Arena at 1 p.m.

Game 2 in Miami will be on Tuesday.

After that the Heat will hit the road for games on Friday and Sunday.

The Heat are not predicted by many experts to come out of the East.

Udonis Haslem said today, “We come in here every day. We put our hard hats on. We grab our lunch pails and we go to work. It might not be the sexiest. We don’t have anybody out here scoring 85 points in one game... But we’re winning games collectively as a unit and as a team. I’m sorry to the basketball world if that’s not sexy enough for your guys.”

Several Heat players used off days on Monday and Tuesday for a trip to the Bahamas.

Tyler Herro said, “We got away for a couple of days, as a team. As a team like us, clear our minds for the grind we’re about to go on.”

Head coach Erik Spoelstra said that P.J. Tucker expects to be ready for game 1.

Spoelstra said there was no update yet on the status of Bam Adebayo. He is currently in the health and safety protocols.


About the Author:

David Lang is executive producer of the Local 10 sports department.