With their chances of securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs gone, the Miami Heat's next step will be trying to avoid facing a division winner in their opening series.
The Heat look to wrap up the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference on Sunday night when they host a New York Knicks team that's played them well this season.Miami (41-38) owns a one-game advantage over sixth-place Philadelphia in the East and can secure the No. 5 seed and a first-round meeting against Atlanta with a win over New York (31-49) and a 76ers loss at Toronto on Sunday night.
Finishing in sixth place would mean facing either Atlantic Division champion Boston or Southeast winner Orlando in the first round. The Celtics and Magic both took three of their four meetings with Miami.
The Heat's shot at the fourth seed ended Friday night when they lost 105-98 in Boston and the Hawks defeated Indiana 122-118. Miami is limping toward the postseason, having lost two straight and nine of its last 14.
On Friday night, Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half to help the Heat tie it 95-all with just under 2 minutes left. Boston, though, scored the next eight to pull away.
"They are the defending champions, and we played them as well as anybody," said Michael Beasley, who scored 23 with 13 rebounds. "I think if we can play like that in the playoffs, we can make a push for it."
Wade pushed the Heat to a win over New York in the teams' last meeting.
On Feb. 28 in Miami, Wade scored 15 of his 46 points in a dramatic 19-0 spurt that erased a 15-point deficit in the final nine minutes of a 120-115 win.
He also had 10 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots as Miami escaped with a win after losing 120-115 at Madison Square Garden earlier in the season.
"D-Wade is D-Wade," Knicks guard Nate Robinson said.
The Knicks are playing the spoiler role after being eliminated from postseason contention for the fifth straight year.
They dealt a crushing blow to the Magic's hopes of getting the East's second spot with a 105-95 victory in Orlando on Friday night.
"On national television, we were just coming out and trying to play our best," said David Lee, who had 20 points and 16 rebounds to help the Knicks avoid a season sweep by Orlando.
"We were up after three quarters like we have been almost every single game against the Magic this year. We were just able to get some stops this time."
The win was just New York's third in the last 15 games.
"Just a lot of good things, just solid," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's one of the first nights we have had that for a while."
New York has won three of its last five visits to Miami and is 29-27 all-time there, including a 7-7 mark in the postseason.
