Miami Heat legend Dwayne Wade provides his old team with harsh reality originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Miami Heat have had another disappointing season to their standards, currently sitting eighth in the Eastern Conference.
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That said, they defeated a formidable Houston Rockets team Saturday, powered by Bam Adebayo’s double-double (24 points and 11 rebounds).
Prior to Saturday’s game, Miami Heat legend Dwayne Wade spoke about the team’s recent form on Prime, addressing the notion that the Heat were better than a Play-In Tournament team. He said: “Are you? Because men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”
For the Heat, the numbers certainly don’t lie. Not only is Miami eighth in the conference, but they’ve also finished eighth in each of the last three seasons.
Since the 2015-16 season, the Heat have finished as a top-four seed in the conference just once, when they led the Eastern Conference as the No. 1 seed in the 2021-22 season.
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Although their health has improved with Tyler Herro returning from injury, Miami’s lack of trade deadline acquisitions make it hard to think that they could be much better than their record.
However, their remaining schedule is quite favorable, ranking as the ninth easiest in the league.
With that in mind, the middle of the Eastern Conference is heavily contested, as the Heat trail the Philadelphia 76ers by two games for the sixth seed.
In order to make their way out of Play-In territory, head coach Erik Spoelstra and the Heat will need to find another gear.
Miami will return to action Tuesday for the first of two straight games against the Brooklyn Nets.
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