Heat Lose To Wizards, Yield Top Seed
The Washington Wizards defeated an undermanned Miami Heat side on Monday, handing the Eastern Conference’s top seed to the Indiana Pacers.
With two of the ‘Big Three’ on the bench resting, the Miami Heat ceded top spot in the Eastern Conference Monday, losing 114-93 to the Washington Wizards.
Head coach Eric Spoelstra elected to give Chris Bosh and LeBron James the night off in D.C., leaving the undermanned Heat to get picked apart by a Wizards side looking to finish strong ahead of the playoffs.
The result was enough to hand the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed to the Indiana Pacers.
With one game left on the schedule for both sides, Miami (54-27) can no longer finish above Indiana (55-26); the Pacers have a superior record against Eastern Conference foes, the tiebreaker level that would separate the two sides.
While the Pacers’ focus has clearly been on finishing first all season, it appears Miami isn’t worried about seeding heading into the playoffs this weekend. As has been the case for the past two seasons, rest for the Heat’s stars was identified as priority No. 1 in the last week of the season.
It’s speculated that Dwyane Wade, who played 18 minutes against the Wizards, only took to the floor to collect some playing time following a nine-game injury-induced layoff earlier this month.
After what was a close first quarter, the Wizards jumped on the Heat, building up a 36-point lead. Trevor Ariza, the only Wizards player to log more than 26 minutes on the floor, led all scorers with 25 points before the bench was emptied in garbage time.
The result means Indiana will meet the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. The two sides split the season series 2-2.
Miami meanwhile will have to wait and see which team it will face.
The Heat may have felt there was nothing to play for but Washington (43-38) entered the game knowing that failure to win could prove costly.
The Wizards are currently embroiled in a battle with Southeast Division rivals the Charlotte Bobcats (42-39) for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A sixth-place finish is significant because it would see the side avoid both Indiana and Miami in the first round of the playoffs. While a matchup with the Toronto Raptors (48-33) or Chicago Bulls (48-33) – two of the hottest teams in the East right now – would be no picnic, the going consensus is that both the Wizards and Bobcats would prefer to avoid the conference’s top two.
The Bobcats earned a last second buzzer-beater victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, leaving Phillips Arena with a 95-93 win. That result keeps Steve Clifford’s side one-game back of the Wizards with one to play.
Charlotte will host Chicago on Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET), a team it hasn’t beaten in three attempts this season. Washington will visit the Boston Celtics (8:00 p.m. ET) with a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head season series.
With three victories over the Wizards since March 12, the Bobcats would take the tiebreaker if the two sides finish level following Wednesday’s finales.
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