Heats rejoins Cavaliers, others in Play-in picture mode

Brooklyn Nets vs Miami Heat - Full Game Highlights

By Ed Emeanua

Nets victory over Miami yesterday triggered a playoff scenario with contrasting twists and turns. Right up to the toss-up for Saturday night’s Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat clash, the anticipated conservative scenarios from the result of the tussle made a lot of sense with critical analysis.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were on the sidelines to pick up their playoff tickets, only contingent upon the outcome of the event in Miami. The Cavaliers stood to profit from an anticipated Nets beatdown at Miami, and would officially pickup the fourth team slot allocated to the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, alongside the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The expectation was that the Heat (40-34), would best lower seeded Nets on Saturday night. Rather, it was Brooklyn who raked in all the spoils, but it was not even with a lot of fight from the loser. All in all, the Brooklyn mowed down almost half of their shots from the field and notched 18 of their 40 three-point tries.

The entire Nets starting five raked in dual-numbers and a tantalizing point-making display from Mikal Bridges, helping Brooklyn to brush aside Miami with a commanding 129-100 win. No-one expects that the Cavaliers would not make playoff in the end, but Brooklyn’s victory over Miami denied Cleveland from just achieving that at their expense yesterday.

The Brooklyn beatdown on the Heat means both teams must trade seedings once again. While the Nets retrogresses to sixth seed, their fortunes portends a likely first-round series against the dreaded Philadelphia 76ers. For the time being, the Heat remain in the playoff-chase mode one more time, alongside the Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and the Chicago Bulls.