Examining the road to the playoffs for the Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are in a prime position as they prepare for the home stretch, especially when considering the amount of interruption and adversity they’ve faced this season.

Bam Adebayo has already missed 25 games for the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler has missed 18 games. Tyler Herro has missed eight games and Kyle Lowry is about to miss his fourth consecutive game due to personal reasons.

Then when you add in Markieff Morris being sidelined for the last 36 games and Victor Oladipo having endured a season-long absence, the fact the Heat are currently placed third in the Eastern Conference with a 29-17 record is simply a testament to every operation of the franchise.

The Miami Heat have faced a lot of challenges so far this season, but the road ahead will be that much sweeter because of it

Granted, players and teams league-wide have been struck down season-long due to the COVID-related Health and Safety Protocols instituted by the league that was put in place to enable the season to continue.

But just as impressive from the Heat’s perspective )in addition to overcoming their lengthy injury list) has been the schedule they’ve endured thus far, as well as how they’ve rebounded from such adversity.

To this point, the Heat have played 26 of their 46 games on the road. From this point onwards, the furthest the team will travel west will be to face the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 3. In fact, the trip to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 10 will be the only other time they’ll be required to travel to face a Western Conference team on the road.

In his annual press conference on the eve of the season, Heat president Pat Riley made particular mention of the challenges the team would face to kick off this season:

"“We have a very challenging start, so conditioning is going to be very important, efficiency is going to be important. Last year we started 7-14 and got ourselves into a hole, but that was Covid related more than anything else. So we have to somehow get off to a good start with this challenging schedule.”"

To date, aside from a handful of ordinary nights, the team has certainly lived up to Riley’s wishes. In particular, their wins over the reigning NBA Finalist Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns (minus the presence of both Butler and Adebayo in each game) were incredibly inspiring.

In particular, the performance against Phoenix, the fifth game of a West Coast road trip, was a completely dominant performance in which they simply opposed their will on both ends of the floor.

Following the impending mid-February All-Star break, the Heat will encounter a salivating section of their schedule. Between March 4-29, the Heat will play 11 games at home, in which six of their opponents are currently below .500. Their only trip during this span will be to take on the Philadelphia 76ers on March 21.

So in essence, the Heat will travel just once in a 25-day span. When you take into account the incredibly challenging nature of their schedule to date, this is without question a shining light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime, the Heat will now embark on a four-game home stint, kicking off with a matchup with the heavily scrutinized Los Angeles Lakers. Given the obstacles they’ve overcome to date, and the gradual return to the floor of their entire roster, the Miami Heat are incredibly well placed as the business end of the season approaches.