Brooklyn Nets: 3 things to watch in season finale against Heat
By Phil Watson
The Brooklyn Nets, their entry into the playoffs already secure, host the Miami Heat at Barclays Center Wednesday night to close out the regular season.
The Brooklyn Nets are going to the NBA Playoffs. That’s what we know heading into Wednesday night’s regular-season finale at Barclays Center against the Miami Heat.
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What remains to be determined is the Nets’ opponent in the first round. With a win over Miami, Brooklyn would lock up the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and open the playoffs against the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers this weekend.
A loss makes things more complicated.
The Nets can still take the No. 6 spot with a loss, but would need losses by both the Orlando Magic, on the road against the Charlotte Hornets — who are still alive but need a win and help — and the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
If Brooklyn loses to the Heat and either Detroit or Orlando win, the Nets will be the No. 7 seed and face the second-seeded Toronto Raptors in the first round.
The Heat were eliminated Tuesday night despite their blowout win over the 76ers, knocked out when the Pistons came back from 22 points down to beat the Memphis Grizzlies and the Hornets blasted the Cleveland Cavaliers a bit earlier in the evening.
But Miami still has a gigantic incentive to play well, with retiring legend Dwyane Wade scheduled to make his final career appearance on Wednesday.
The Nets defied the odds over the weekend, getting their first back-to-back road sweep since April 2014 with victories over the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers that secured their first playoff berth since 2015.
Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson could opt to rest players in anticipation of the playoffs, and the initial injury report for Wednesday’s game listed forward DeMarre Carroll as out and guard Joe Harris as questionable.
Carroll was treated for a sprained right wrist in Sunday’s game at Indiana and Harris has a sore right foot.
The only thing certain for Miami is that leading scorer Josh Richardson will miss his fourth straight game with a strained left hip.
The Heat’s playoff hopes took an irreversible hit when they went 0-4 last week, losing twice the the Boston Celtics and taking a costly road loss to a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that has long since been eliminated from playoff contention.
That was followed by an overtime loss Sunday at Toronto, which played all five of its starters for at least 33 minutes despite being locked in at No. 2 in the East, as first-year coach Nick Nurse continues to defy conventional wisdom.
Here are three things to watch as the Heat visit the Nets for a late start from Barclays Center, 8 p.m. Eastern.