Miami Heat and their EC playoff path to the Finals

[heyvik]

is it me or did Miami just get an easier path to the Eastern Conference finals by avoiding the Chi/Brooklyn winner in the 2nd round? anyone agree?

[pearljammer10]

I think for the Heat any path is easy until they reach a Western conference team.

[pearljammer10]

And to add. Miami could still face Chicago in the second round if the Bulls win and Raptors lose tonight.

*according to NBA.com (I still was under the impression that since the Raptors won the Atlantic they can finish no lower than third)

[Fafnir]

is it me or did Miami just get an easier path to the Eastern Conference finals by avoiding the Chi/Brooklyn winner in the 2nd round? anyone agree?

Not really.

Toronto has been playing as well as Chicago/BKN for the last bit of the season.

Also while its unlikely Toronto isn't locked into the 3 seed, they could lose to the Knicks Wednesday.

[D.o.s.]

And to add. Miami could still face Chicago in the second round if the Bulls win and Raptors lose tonight.

*according to NBA.com (I still was under the impression that since the Raptors won the Atlantic they can finish no lower than third)

No lower than 4th, but HCA still goes the the team with the best record

[pearljammer10]

And to add. Miami could still face Chicago in the second round if the Bulls win and Raptors lose tonight.

*according to NBA.com (I still was under the impression that since the Raptors won the Atlantic they can finish no lower than third)

No lower than 4th, but HCA still goes the the team with the best record

Gotcha, that's it. TP for the clarification.

[heyvik]

I would have loved to see a Brooklyn/Miami 2nd round match up.

I think the way that Indiana is playing and the way that Brooklyn is playing we might see Indiana knocked out vs Brooklyn (or Chi)

[MattyIce]

I would have loved to see a Brooklyn/Miami 2nd round match up.

I think the way that Indiana is playing and the way that Brooklyn is playing we might see Indiana knocked out vs Brooklyn (or Chi)

i believe that if BKN loses its next two games and Wiz beat us tomorrow (which they have incentive to do to stay out of the 7 seed) then Wiz would own TB with BKN and BKN could drop to the 6th seed which would be better for our pick as well as be a hindrance to the Heat...wouldnt BKN prefer to play the cHeat?  maybe they should sit a few guys

[Kane3387]

I would have loved to see a Brooklyn/Miami 2nd round match up.

I think the way that Indiana is playing and the way that Brooklyn is playing we might see Indiana knocked out vs Brooklyn (or Chi)

i believe that if BKN loses its next two games and Wiz beat us tomorrow (which they have incentive to do to stay out of the 7 seed) then Wiz would own TB with BKN and BKN could drop to the 6th seed which would be better for our pick as well as be a hindrance to the Heat...wouldnt BKN prefer to play the cHeat?  maybe they should sit a few guys

Yeah so be rooting hard for the Knicks tonight.

[KGs Knee]

Just saw on ESPN scroll Pierce, Johnson & Williams are all game time decisions with various ailments.

Haha! Would laugh my but off it Brooklyn tries to back their way into Miami's half the bracket.   Ballsy move.

[heyvik]

gotta see that matchup every night!

[MattyIce]

Just saw on ESPN scroll Pierce, Johnson & Williams are all game time decisions with various ailments.

Haha! Would laugh my but off it Brooklyn tries to back their way into Miami's half the bracket.   Ballsy move.

and Alan Anderson, Shawn Livingston and Mirza Tel are all out ****

[staticcc]

Paths don't matter (barring injuries). If you can't beat a team in the 1st or 2nd round, you can't beat them in the Conference Finals.

[MattyIce]

Paths don't matter (barring injuries). If you can't beat a team in the 1st or 2nd round, you can't beat them in the Conference Finals.

paths absolutely matter, style of play and individual match ups matter , you think it wouldn't be any more difficult to go through Indiana AND BKN as opposed to another east team? Bkn who beat the heat all 4 games this year and are not in any way intimidated by the heat! do u think rest is important? even if bkn gets it to a 6 or 7 game series as opposed to a 5, u think Miami wouldn't prefer that?  (with all the rest they are trying to get dwade?  pleeeeeeaaase, Miami is sitting their guys these last two games, either they think rest is important or that they'd prefer to avoid BKN , take your pick.... or maybe it's both.

[staticcc]

Paths don't matter (barring injuries). If you can't beat a team in the 1st or 2nd round, you can't beat them in the Conference Finals.

paths absolutely matter, style of play and individual match ups matter , you think it wouldn't be any more difficult to go through Indiana AND BKN as opposed to another east team? Bkn who beat the heat all 4 games this year and are not in any way intimidated by the heat! do u think rest is important? even if bkn gets it to a 6 or 7 game series as opposed to a 5, u think Miami wouldn't prefer that?  (with all the rest they are trying to get dwade?  pleeeeeeaaase, Miami is sitting their guys these last two games, either they think rest is important or that they'd prefer to avoid BKN , take your pick.... or maybe it's both.

Style of play and individual matchups matter but paths don't. You HAVE to win every series no matter who you're playing. If you can't beat BKN in the 2nd round, do you even deserve to be champions? You face whoever you're up against, you beat them and you win the championship (you have no control over these easy or hard paths, you just have to WIN).

Are you also saying a few days of rest decides a 7 game series? I don't think so. Didn't work for the Spurs last year after they swept the Grizz in 4 games while the Heat had to battle for 7 games vs Indy. Every series starts from scratch. The only extended rest you get is before Game 1. After game 1, it's all up in the air again, no more extra rest for one team over the other.