Following Miami’s explosive offensive night in New Orleans, beating the Pelicans 153-104, the Heat will meet the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament. Since the Bulls and Heat enter the play-in tournament at the 9th and 10th seed, respectively, the winner will play the loser of the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks game.

The Miami Heat are no strangers to the play-in tournament. For the third straight season, the Heat will compete in the play-in tournament, appearing 60% of the time in this current format.

Each year, the Heat have made the traditional playoff format as an 8-seed with a historic NBA Finals appearance in 2023 after participating in the play-in tournament.

While this likely won’t be another miraculous run with the current makeup of the Heat roster, it is encouraging to see a young team in the post-Butler era still competing. This Heat team has won 7 of their last 10 games and continue to put their best foot forward behind first-time All-Star Tyler Herro and cornerstone center Bam Adebayo.

The Chicago Bulls have also won 7 of their last 10 games, including a 119-111 win over the Miami Heat earlier in the week behind Josh Giddey’s triple-double performance. Giddey received help from his fellow starting lineup, with all starters scoring 17+ in a very balanced offensive effort on Wednesday night. This could give the Bulls confidence against the Heat in this win-or-go-home showdown, with the Bulls sweeping the head-to-head series this season at 3-0.

For Miami to be successful, they must stop Josh Giddey from being a factor. In three games against the Heat, Giddey has been the team’s leading scorer and averages 26 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 10 APG. If Giddey has another big game, the Heat’s season might end prematurely.

At best, whoever wins this game, and if they can win the following game, will be set to meet the 1-seed Cleveland Cavaliers, who are on a war path with 64 wins.

We’ve seen this magic from the Heat before. Can they do it again? Let us know in the comments below if Coach Spo can lead Tyler Herro and company to the 8-seed against the Cavaliers.